The  Peddler 


The  Peddler 

A  Novel 

by 

HENRY  C.  ROWLAND 


Author  of 

"FILLING  HIS  OWN  SHOES" 
"THE  MAGNET"  ETC. 


Illustrated 


Harper  £5"  Brothers  Publishers 

New  York  and  London 


THE  PEDDLER 

Copyright;  1920,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 

Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 

Published  September.  1920 

o-TT 


s 


Illustrations 


HE  ROSE  AND  THEY  WENT  DOWN  THE  STEPS 

TOGETHER Prontitpiece 

"I  MIGHT  HAVE  GUESSED,  I'VE  BEEN  A  FOOL"  padnop.  48 
"SHE  SWORE  TO  ME  HERSELF  THAT  IT  WAS 

NEVER  GOING  TO  LEAVE  HER  PERSON"  .  "  174 

THE  POLICEMAN  CAME  BRISKLY  TO  WHERE  SHE 

STOOD  "       222 


152379G 


The  Peddler 


The  Peddler 


Chapter  I 

COR  five  generations  the  Kirkland  family 
*•  had  lived  at  Kirkland  Manor,  and  for  the 
last  three  of  these  their  neighbors  had  regarded 
them  with  a  mixture  of  admiration,  respect,  and 
strong  disapprobation. 

Such  esteem  as  the  Kirklands  received  in  the 
community  was  principally  for  what  they 
represented.  They  were  the  oldest  dwellers  on 
the  land,  possessed  of  wealth  commensurate 
with  their  station,  direct  in  their  dealings  (often 
painfully  so),  good  to  look  upon,  and  possessed 
a  number  of  admirable  traits  which  many  held 
to  be  more  than  counterbalanced  by  their 
failings.  But  they  represented  that  rare  ele 
ment,  an  American  aristocracy  which  was 
based  on  descent,  breeding,  long  -  established 
customs  of  elegance  and  residence  upon  the  soil. 

The  present  family  had  always  been  a  head 
strong  tribe,  but  after  the  death  of  the  wife  and 


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mother  no  further  restraint  of  the  four  wild 
sons  and  self-willed  daughter  obtained.  Mr. 
Kirkland  (known  as  "the  squire"  to  the  old- 
timers)  appeared  indifferent  to  his  children's 
escapades,  and  as  they  reached  adult  age 
appeared  to  find  an  agreeable  diversion  in 
them. 

So  it  had  come  to  pass  that  the  old  manor- 
house  was  regarded  obliquely  by  the  more  sober- 
minded  of  the  community.  This  did  not  apply 
to  the  new,  rich,  and  fashionable  set  of  whom 
the  elaborate  palaces  had  more  recently  sprung 
up  from  most  of  the  dominating  points  both 
along  the  shore  of  the  bay  and  inland.  These 
were  invariably  eager  to  make  acquaintance 
with  "the  Kinky  Kirklands"  (as  the  boys  were 
dubbed  at  Harvard),  and  this  was  in  no  way 
difficult,  as  this  family,  the  old  aristocratic  one 
of  the  countryside,  still  preserved  a  good  many 
Colonial  traditions  of  hospitality  and  welcome 
to  what  it  had  come  to  regard  in  the  light  of  its 
domain. 

The  estate  itself  portrayed  its  patrician 
character.  A  number  of  such  are  still  to  be 
found  throughout  that  section  of  New  England 
and  bear  a  certain  cachet  impossible  to  reproduce 
in  the  beautiful  and  costly  estates  which  spring 
up  on  every  side  to  minimize  them  by  com- 


THE    PEDDLER 


parative  magnificence.  But  these  former  are 
not  dismayed  by  such  display.  Like  some  old 
aristocrat  of  lofty  lineage,  Kirkland  Manor 
wore  its  insignia  of  rank  in  qualities  which  only 
time  can  evolve,  the  velvet  fineness  of  its  lawns, 
a  depth  of  shadow  and  girth  of  trunk  to  trees 
set  out  in  stately  order  of  alignment  and  such 
a  merging  of  art  and  nature  in  its  grounds  as 
one  might  see  in  old  pictures,  a  dissolving  of 
early  landscape  gardening  into  the  massive 
features  of  rock  and  hillock,  woods  and  broken 
shore,  which  characterize  that  part  of  the  rugged 
coast. 

But  the  family  itself  did  not  appear  to  have 
shared  in  this  mellowing  of  age.  In  the  memory 
of  the  oldest  inhabitant  of  the  region  the  trouble 
with  the  Kirkland  men  had  always  been  strong 
drink.  Yet  they  stood  as  a  bad  argument  for 
prohibitionists  because  they  continued  to  pros 
per  in  their  affairs,  held  fast  to  their  fortunes 
and  increased  them,  reared  sturdy  and  beautiful 
children  who  grew  to  be  attractive  men  and 
women,  high  spirited  and  temperamental. 

Contrary  to  local  prophecy,  they  managed 
to  keep  out  of  penal,  hygienic,  and  charitable 
institutions,  while  none  had  ever  fallen,  as 
predicted,  under  lethal  weapons  in  the  hands  of 
husbands,  fathers,  or  brothers.  Not  only  were 


THE    PEDDLER 


they  gentlefolk,  but  they  seemed  to  have  in 
herited  a  certain  canniness  and  wit  from  their 
Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  So  that  while  every 
body  expected  to  hear  on  almost  any  day  that 
they  had  got  drunk  and  burned  the  house  down 
or  broken  their  necks  riding  'cross-country,  or 
drowned  themselves  in  their  marine  maneuvers, 
or  blown  themselves  up,  or  squandered  their 
substance  in  riotous  living,  or  fallen  foul  of 
their  neighbors  or  one  another  with  fatal  con 
sequences,  none  of  these  things  ever  happened. 
And  none  could  deny  but  that  they  were  always 
very  much  alive  until  Father  Time  garnered 
them  with  his  scythe. 

Perhaps  the  reason  was  that  their  strong  red 
blood  found  a  certain  percentage  of  alcohol 
required  by  its  plasma;  perhaps  that  they  were 
such  tough-fibered  outdoor  folk  that  they  did 
not  fall  within  the  jurisdiction  of  hygienic  rules 
which  must  apply  to  others. 

The  family  consisted  of  Mr.  Andrew  Kirk- 
land  ("the  squire"),  who  was  a  sportive  old 
chap  and  prideful  as  the  turkey-gobbler  which 
he  much  resembled;  James,  the  eldest  son  and 
the  best  mind  of  the  family  when  unclouded; 
William,  who  knew  everybody,  both  native  and 
new-comer,  and  had  a  habit  of  living  in  almost 
anybody's  house  but  his  own ;  Diana,  the  only 


THE    PEDDLER 


daughter,  and,  lastly,  the  twins,  Donald  and 
David. 

In  ages  the  children  were  spaced  about  three 
years  apart  (barring  only  the  twins,  when  this 
interval  was  about  three  minutes) ,  and  as  James 
was  twenty-eight,  the  ages  of  the  others  may 
be  quickly  computed  by  the  bright  mathe 
matical  mind.  The  brothers  were  of  a  clean- 
cut,  rangy,  athletic  type — the  "fibrous  type" — 
but  Diana  was  lighter  of  frame  and  more  luxuri 
ously  upholstered.  She  had  a  very  clear  ivory 
skin  with  a  flush  glowing  through  it  at  most 
times,  dark  violet  eyes  which  excitement  made 
indigo,  black  wavy  hair,  very  thick  and  fine. 
There  was  a  sort  of  suppressed  eagerness  about 
this  girl,  as  though  she  were  waiting  impatiently 
for  a  summons  which  was  long  in  coming. 
When  in  motion  she  suggested  the  Winged 
Victory,  but  so  far  she  had  not  lost  her  head. 
Yet  she  gave  that  same  impression  of  the  rush 
of  free,  strong  air,  perhaps  because  she  was 
usually  in  rapid  motion. 

Whatever  Diana's  errand  might  be,  she 
seemed  to  infuse  it  with  that  intensity  of  ardor 
which  most  people  reserve  for  a  crisis.  In  fact, 
this  girl  lived  at  what  would  be  crescendo  for 
other  folk,  though  she  had  never  even  nearly 
approached  her  own. 


THE    PEDDLER 


All  of  this  paints  perhaps  too  attractive  a 
picture  of  the  Kirkland  family.  To  the  debit 
side  of  the  ledger  were  many  intemperances 
besides  that  of  strong  drink.  They  were  lack 
ing  in  self-restraint  and  in  their  own  home 
lived  in  a  sort  of  ferment  of  dispute ;  scarcely  a 
day  passed  without  a  wrangle,  the  sides  vari 
ously  chosen.  They  made  warm  friendships 
with  new  neighbors,  then  offended  them  by 
some  thoughtless  or  careless  act,  parted  with 
anger  to  greet  them  on  their  next  meeting  with 
an  amazing  disregard  of  any  unpleasant  episode 
having  taken  place.  They  fought  continually 
among  themselves,  suddenly  forgot  it — or 
changed  sides  in  the  course  of  the  combat  and 
never  let  the  sun  go  down  upon  their  wrath. 

Meal-time  was  usually  a  pandemonium,  but 
the  same  might  happen  at  any  hour  of  the 
twenty-four;  or  on  any  occasion,  no  matter 
how  solemn.  They  snapped  and  snarled  on 
the  verge  of  their  departure  for  the  war,  and 
when  it  was  over  came  trailing  home  at  inter 
vals  to  get  at  it  again  five  minutes  after  arrival. 

Also  there  were  wild  parties  at  which  Diana 
usually  assisted,  though  she  did  not  smoke  or 
drink.  Exaggerated  stories  were  told  by  pass 
ers-by  of  nocturnal  revels,  yells,  screeches 
and  the  destruction  of  household  effects  as 


THE    PEDDLER 


indicated  by  the  uproar  within.  Or  it  might 
be  of  motor-cars  tearing  dementedly  about  the 
country  to  the  peril  of  orderly  traffic.  In  a 
word,  the  Kirklands  outraged  established  rules 
of  conduct,  rode  roughshod  over  popular  prej 
udices  with  never  a  word  of  by  your  leave  or 
pardon  me. 

And  yet  their  home  itself  seemed  always  to 
run  smoothly  enough  in  its  domestic  machinery. 
Their  servants  stuck  to  them,  and  strongly  up 
for  them,  retailed  no  intelligence  to  their  dis 
credit.  Though  their  neighbors  usually  had 
a  double  watch  of  these  indispensables — one 
coming  on  duty,  the  other  going  off — the  Kirk- 
lands  appeared  to  enjoy  a  sort  of  feudal  loy 
alty  in  this  regard.  Though  they  probably  paid 
about  half  the  wage  of  the  millionaires  who 
surrounded  them  on  every  side,  there  may 
have  been  some  quality  about  them  that  made 
a  servant  feel  like  a  servant  there,  instead  of 
a  paid  and  tolerated  guest;  and  also  a  sort  of 
pleasurable  excitement,  as  though  with  a  circus 
or  menagerie  or  motion-picture  outfit.  Life 
was  never  dull  at  Kirkland  Manor,  which  was 
the  old  name  of  the  place,  though  it  had  fallen 
into  disuse.  The  butler  was  a  Chinaman  and 
a  sort  of  ubiquitous  familiar  of  any  who  might 
need  him  at  any  time.  Most  of  the  others  were 


THE    PEDDLER 


Irish  and  found  the  atmosphere  temperament 
ally  congenial. 

But  for  all  this  internecine  strife,  despite  the 
bickering  and  wrangling  and  chronic  Donny- 
brook  that  usually  prevailed,  let  any  outsider 
or  group  of  outsiders  start  a  serious  offense 
against  any  member  of  the  family,  and  the 
attack  met  not  with  a  massed  defense,  but  a 
very  swift  and  united  counter-offensive,  in 
variably  launched  before  the  casus  belli  had 
been  clearly  ascertained.  It  was  rather  like 
kicking  over  one  of  several  beehives  which 
in  the  lapse  of  a  honey  flow  are  busily  engaged 
in  looting  each  other.  With  a  yell  of  delight 
the  family  turned  as  one  unit  to  rend  the 
aggressor.  And  this  known  fact  more  than 
any  other  had  enabled  the  Kirklands,  up  to 
the  epoch  of  which  we  write,  to  pursue  their 
violent  personal  affairs  in  no  danger  of  alien 
interference. 


Chapter  II 

F^IANA  came  in  from  an  early-morning  ride 
*-**  to  find  her  oldest  brother,  James,  alone 
in  the  big  oak-paneled  dining-room  breakfast 
ing  on  kippers  and  a  bottle  of  ale.  He  greeted 
her  with  a  grunt  and  a  nod. 

"What's  got  you  up  so  early?"  she  asked. 

"Have  to  go  to  town,"  he  growled.  "Filthy 
morning  to  ride,  Di.  You  take  a  chance,  too, 
with  that  Barney  horse.  Since  he  fell  with 
me  he's  been  wabbly  on  his  pattes" 

"If  you're  going  to  town,"  Diana  answered, 
"you'd  better  start  for  the  station  in  plenty  of 
time.  The  road  is  greasy  as  the  deck  of  a  cod- 
fisher.  I  came  up  Oak  Hill  this  morning  and 
it's  a  mess  after  the  rain.  They  ought  to  do 
something  to  the  edge.  It's  washing  out." 

James  nodded. 

"I've  complained  about  it  several  times.  It 
seems  to  me  we  pay  enough  different  sorts 
of  fancy  taxes  to  get  a  road  to  the  station  we 
can  tool  over  without  risking  a  drop  into  the 
ravine.  Somebody  will  go  down  some  day 
and  he'll  only  make  one  trip." 

"I'll  drive  you  in  myself,"  said  Diana. 


io THE    PEDDLER 

She  went  to  the  garage  telephone,  then 
rejoined  her  brother,  followed  by  Chang,  the 
butler,  with  coffee  and  eggs. 

James  was  in  a  bad  humor.  Like  many 
country  gentlemen  of  outdoor  habit  he  held  it 
a  punishment  to  go  to  town  unless  for  some 
particular  joyous  event.  But  as  the  eldest 
and  clearest-headed  of  the  family  he  had 
assumed  control  of  its  financial  affairs.  The 
children  had  inherited  independently  from  their 
mother,  and  would  one  day  inherit  from  their 
father,  but  by  a  sort  of  tacit  agreement  James 
had  been  charged  with  the  direction  of  their 
separate  and  collective  fortunes.  He  ran  the 
house  as  one  might  a  club,  each  contributing 
pro  rata  for  such  things  as  they  shared  in 
common;  and  like  a  club  different  members 
undertook  the  management  of  separate  details. 
Thus  Diana  was  housekeeper;  William  ran  the 
wine  mess,  for  which  they  signed  chits;  Don 
ald  looked  after  the  stables  and  garage;  and 
David,  the  navy — a  seagoing  motor-yacht, 
two  launches,  a  small  sailing-racer  and  a  flotil 
la  of  canoes  and  rowboats.  A  hydroplane  was 
shortly  to  be  added  to  this  squadron  and  the 
hangar  for  it  was  at  that  moment  in  process 
of  construction. 

James   was  bolting   his  kippers,   something 


THE    PEDDLER 11 

w 

in  the  manner  of  a  Malemute  sledge-dog,  when 
suddenly  he  paused  and  cocked  his  head. 

"What's  that  devilish  row?"  he  demanded. 

They  both  listened.  It  was  one  of  those 
soft,  soggy  mornings  in  late  spring,  very  still, 
with  a  sort  of  greenhouse  atmosphere  from 
vegetation  growing  with  intense  speed  in  warm, 
humid  air.  On  such  a  morning  one  can  almost 
hear  buds  bursting,  and  see  the  exfoliation  of 
leaf  and  blossom  as  it  burgeons.  Heavy  as 
was  the  air  and  still,  practically  the  only  sound 
being  the  drip  from  the  saturated  buds,  the  con 
ductivity  to  the  senses  of  smell  and  hearing  was 
extreme.  The  air  was  laden  with  a  fragrance 
of  baby  growing  things,  and  on  this  still  morn 
ing  you  could  hear  the  splash  of  their  tears, 
sounds  never  sad  in  the  spring  as  they  are  in 
the  autumn,  when  these  fall  from  the  dead 
and  dying.  And  now  through  such  soft  noises 
came  the  most  appalling  though  still  distant 
uproar  of  banging  and  clanging  and  slamming 
and  clattering,  accompanied  by  staccato  grunts 
and  coughs  and  the  clashing  of  heavy  gears. 

The  two  listened  in  astonishment.  For  such 
a  racket,  startling  anywhere  except  along  the 
wharves,  seemed  outrageously  misplaced  as 
trumpeted  across  the  somewhat  cemeterial 
grounds  of  Kirkland  Manor. 


12 THE    PEDDLER 

"My  word,"  said  James,  "if  it  were  a  year 
ago  I'd  say  it  was  a  file  of  tanks  hustling  up 
to  the  front.  A  disgrace  to  let  a  thing  like 
that  go  over  the  road!" 

"It  is  probably  a  steam  roller  with  a  trailer 
sent  to  mend  the  bank  at  Oak  Hill.  You're 
nervous  this  morning,  James." 

"Nothing  of  the  sort!"  snapped  her  brother. 
"I'm  never  nervous!" 

"You  are,  though.  Your  nerves  are  as  raw  as 
the  paws  of  an  overbred  pointer  the  first  week  of 
the  shooting.  And  small  wonder — sitting  up  all 
night  playing  poker  and  drinking  whisky." 

"Maybe  you're  right.  Guess  I  need  a  real 
drink";  and  he  reached  for  the  decanter  of 
Scotch. 

"Don't,  for  Heaven's  sake!"  cried  Diana, 
exasperated.  "You've  got  to  go  to  town  and 
do  some  business.  If  you  start  drinking  now, 
where  will  you  be  by  noon?" 

"Right  where  I  belong.  You  make  me  tired, 
Di." 

"Well,  you  make  me  tired.  You  all  make 
me  tired  with  your  everlasting  guzzling.  I'll 
be  glad  when  the  country  goes  dry." 

' '  Guess  we  can  weather  the  drought.  William 
told  me  he'd  bought  ten  thousand  dollars'  worth. 
By  the  time  that's  gone  we'll  all  be  back — " 


THE    PEDDLER  13 

"In  the  family  cemetery.  It's  a  good  thing 
you've  got  me  to  drive  you  to  the  station!" 

"Huh!  Glad  you  think  yourself  a  safety 
device.  It  would  be  a  new  idea  to  anybody 
else.  Listen  to  that!  You'd  think  the  scoun 
drel  was  driving  into  the  grounds." 

There  was  an  amount  of  truth  in  this  remark, 
for  the  extraordinary  clamor  had  suddenly 
augmented,  increased  in  volume  and  the  pe 
culiar  variety  of  its  component  noises.  Aside 
from  the  sound  that  one  might  expect  of  an 
overworked  steam  roller  there  were  hideous 
crashings  and  bangings,  shrill  janglings  and 
thumpings,  and  such  shrieks  of  agony  as  might 
be  heard  from  the  bulkhead  of  a  wooden  sailing- 
ship  becalmed  and  laboring  in  a  heavy  cross 
chop.  As  these  smote  vociferously  upon  their 
ears  Diana  sprang  to  her  feet. 

"But  it  is  coming  in!"  she  cried.  "It's 
right  outside";  and  she  hurrried  to  the  front 
door,  which  was  open. 

At  the  same  moment  the  astounding  racket 
stopped  abruptly,  to  leave  utter  silence  except 
for  the  dripping  from  the  trees. 

"My  word!"  cried  James.  "Have  some  of 
my  buddies  in  the  tank  service  sent  me  a 
whippet  for  a  souvenir?" 

As  he   spoke   a  blithe  musical   voice   from 


i_4 THE    PEDDLER 

without  began  to  lilt  most  cheerfully  an  ancient 
little  French  nursery  song: 

"  M albrouck  s'tn  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-ton,  Mironiaine." 

Almost  convinced  that  his  wild  guess  was 
indeed  a  fact,  and  that  some  kind  friend  had 
remembered  him  in  the  division  of  the  spoils 
of  war  which  broke  out  spontaneously  in  Paris 
shortly  after  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  when 
almost  anybody  in  a  big  car  might  be  seen 
towing  a  German  field-piece  up  the  Champs- 
filysees,  James  followed  Diana  out  onto  the 
broad  veranda,  there  to  fetch  up  with  a  snort 
of  astonishment  and  anger. 

Where  the  drive  forked  to  lead  under  the 
porte-cochere  and  round  the  house  to  the 
stable  and  garage  there  stood  a  most  extraor 
dinary  vehicle,  which  seemed  to  tower  to  the 
first  cleavature  of  the  ancient  elms.  It  was  a 
huge  motor-truck  of  the  biggest  and  latest  army 
model,  and  there  was  built  upon  it  a  house 
the  cubic  contents  of  which  were  enormously 
increased  by  virtue  of  its  height  and  stern  and 
lateral  overhang.  Like  a  London  bus,  it 
had  a  ladder  by  which  to  mount  to  the  top, 
and  it  had  windows  like  a  British  caravan  or 
French  nomad  wagon;  and  the  whole  was 


THE    PEDDLER 15 

painted  a  bright  sky  blue,  the  wheels  a  canary 
yellow. 

The  sides  of  this  amazing  vehicle  presented 
much  the  aspect  of  a  South  Street  junk-shop, 
except  that  the  merchandise  displayed  was 
newer  and  more  varied,  also  of  an  agricultural 
and  domestic  as  well  as  nautical  character. 
There  were  coils  of  rope  and  galvanized  chain, 
tools,  anchors,  mechanical  devices,  heavy  blocks, 
plowshares,  fire-extinguishers,  lawn-mowers, 
ships'  sailing-lights,  ice-cream  freezers,  and 
children's  toys — all  displayed  under  the  pro 
jecting  eaves  which  jutted  from  the  roof  and  to 
which  tarpaulin  curtains  were  snugly  furled. 

But  the  eyes  of  Diana  and  James  passed 
quickly  from  this  rolling  general  store  to  a 
figure  equally  anomalous  which  was  approach 
ing  the  front  entrance  in  the  self-assured  man 
ner  of  an  invited  guest. ,  This  was  a  young  man 
of  medium  height  but  uncommon  breadth  of 
shoulder,  dressed  in  a  curious  costume  of  blue 
denim  and  wearing  the  b£ret  of  a  Breton  fisher 
man.  As  he  drew  near,  Diana  observed  that 
his  face  was  distinctly  attractive,  though  un 
usual  of  type  by  virtue  of  the  heavy  bony 
prominences  of  forehead,  jaw,  and  cheek.  He 
reminded  her,  in  fact,  of  the  rather  exaggerated 
conceptions  of  artists  and  sculptors  exemplify- 


16 THE    PEDDLER 

ing  labor.  But,  unlike  these,  his  expression 
was  distinctly  merry  instead  of  thoughtful  or 
brooding.  A  laugh  appeared  to  have  its  head 
quarters  about  his  widely  spaced  gray  eyes. 
His  nose  was  straight  and  high-bridged,  and 
his  mouth  of  generous  dimensions. 

Walking  briskly  up  to  the  side  of  the  veranda 
where  they  stood,  he  came  to  a  halt  and  saluted 
briskly  and  with  a  smile. 

"Good  morning,  sir  and  lady,"  said  he.  "I 
trust  that  my  boisterous  entrance  has  not  dis 
turbed  you." 

James  stared  down  at  him  with  rising  anger. 
He  was  already  in  a  bad  humor — first  on  being 
obliged  to  go  to  town,  then  at  Diana's  com 
mentaries  on  his  habits.  His  harsh  temper 
was  roused  at  the  cheek  of  this  fellow  roaring 
and  crashing  into  the  grounds,  gouging  up  the 
drive  with  his  huge  double  wheels,  and  thunder 
ing  to  the  house  with  possible  damage  to  the 
borders  and  ornamental  shrubs. 

"Well,  it  has  then,"  he  growled.  "Con 
found  your  nerve,  anyhow !  What  do  you  mean 
by  tooling  that  infernal  hardware  store  into  a 
private  place?" 

This  rough  reception  did  not  appear  to  dis 
may  the  peddler  in  the  least. 

"My  presumption  was  for  the  sake  of  your 


THE    PEDDLER 17 

convenience,  sir, ' '  he  answered.  ' '  If  Mohammed 
will  not  go  to  the  mountain  the  mountain  must 
go  to  Mohammed.  I  felt  that  it  would  be  a 
greater  temerity  to  ask  you  to  walk  down  to 
the  front  gate  and  that  such  a  request  must 
be  met  with  a  refusal.  In  my  quality  of  ped 
dler,  or  marchand  ambulant,  the  first  requisite 
is  that  of  bringing  my  wares  directly  to  the  feet 
of  the  prospective  client." 

"Then  you'd  better  first  make  sure  of  the 
prospective  client!"  snarled  James. 

"Sir,"  replied  the  peddler,  "all  clients  must 
needs  be  prospective  ones  to  the  merchant 
when  seeking  to  establish  a  clientele.  If  you 
would  give  yourself  the  trouble — " 

"I'll  give  you  the  trouble  to  beat  it  out  of 
here,  and  quick!  Take  that  accursed  truck 
of  yours  round  the  house,  and  be  damned  care 
ful  how  you  make  the  turn." 

"Oh,  come,  James,"  said  Diana,  "there's  no 
use  being  so  nasty  about  it." 

"It's  enough  to  make  anybody  nasty!"  he 
rasped.  "Fancy  giving  a  man  a  license  to  go 
roaring  round,  blocking  and  tearing  up  the  roads 
with  a  thing  like  that.  And  the  cheek  of  the 
beggar  ramping  in  here,  scraping  the  shrub 
bery,  and  waking  everybody  up  and  shaking 
the  pictures  off  the  walls!  You  get  into  that 


i_8 THE    PEDDLER 

hardware  store  of  yours  and  clear  out  with  it 
if  you  can,  though  I'm  hanged  if  I  see  how 
you're  going  to  make  the  turn  without  tearing 
up  the  borders  and  knocking  the  corners  off 
the  house.  If  you  smash  anything  I'll  telephone 
the  sheriff  and  have  that  bus  of  yours  held 
and  taken  down  and  shipped  to  you  in  sections 
at  your  expense." 

But  still  the  peddler  lingered,  and  Diana, 
observing  him  closely,  was  struck  by  the  fact 
that  instead  of  being  angry  or  alarmed  at  this 
rough  admonition  the  expression  of  smothered 
.amusement  about  his  eyes  seemed  to  increase. 
Yet  he  did  not  impress  her  as  impudent  or 
importunate.  There  was  something  singularly 
disarming  in  his  level  gaze. 

"I  regret  profoundly  having  abused  the  im 
plied  hospitality  of  your  wide-open  gates,  sir," 
he  said;  "but  having  committed  this  error, 
may  I  not  attempt  to  rectify  it  by  supplying 
some  unfilled  if  unsuspected  need?  I  have  a 
great  many  articles  indispensable  on  a  big 
shore  estate  like  this.  Blocks  and  tackles, 
chains  and  shackles  to  brace  the  limbs  of  these 
ancient  elms,  special  cement  for  tree  surgery, 
pruners,  dog-clippers,  rat  poison,  mole-traps — 
all  of  the  highest  grade  at  ten  per  cent,  below 
store  prices — " 


THE    PEDDLER 19 

"Now  that  will  be  about  all,  my  man," 
James  interrupted.  "Get  into  your  wagon 
and  go,  and  take  care  you  don't  knock  those 
hospitable  gates  off  their  hinges." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  replied  the  peddler,  with 
respectful  regret.  "Sorry,  sir.  Good  morn 
ing,  sir;  and  you,  ma'am." 

He  lifted  the  front  of  his  b£ret  with  a  smile, 
turned  smartly  on  his  heel,  and  walked  back 
to  his  truck,  and  as  he  moved  away  they  caught 
the  Hit  of  his  little  song : 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-l-en  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-ton,  Mirontaine." 

James  stepped  inside  the  house  and  clapped 
his  hands,  at  which  Chang,  the  Chinese  butler, 
appeared. 

"Follow  that  truck  round  the  house,"  said 
James.  "See  him  out  of  the  grounds,  and  if 
he  smashes  the  borders  or  rides  down  a  tree 
or  knocks  over  a  gatepost  come  and  tell  me." 

Diana  remained  upon  the  veranda,  watching 
the  peddler  curiously.  He  started  his  motor, 
at  which  a  small  dog  sitting  upon  the  seat 
began  to  yap  expectantly.  It  looked  to  Diana 
like  a  cross  between  a  dachshund  and  a  French 
poodle,  if  one  can  imagine  such  a  combination 
at  this  epoch,  and  its  shrill  voice  roused  a  riot 


20 THE    PEDDLER 

in  the  kennels,  which  swelled  the  general  up 
roar.  Diana  went  back  into  the  house  wearing 
a  crooked  smile. 

"That  was  a  queer  type,"  said  she  to  James. 
"Did  you  notice  the  little  French  nursery  rhyme 
he  was  singing?" 

"Yes.  Probably  some  casual  off  a  trans 
port." 

"Why  casual?" 

"His  cheek  and  sloppy  way  of  saluting. 
Also  the  fact  of  his  having  enough  money  to 
set  up  in  business  with  that  perambulating 
junk-shop." 

The  outrageous  racket  began  again  to  awaken 
furious  human  echoes  from  the  upper  stories 
of  the  house,  where  the  incensed  brethren, 
roused  from  their  beauty  sleep,  flung  open 
their  windows  and  roared  out  imprecations. 
Even  paterfamilias  lent  his  voice  to  these. 
Yells  filled  the  place  and  were  flung  back  from 
stable  and  garage,  but  it  is  impossible  that  any 
of  them  could  have  reached  the  peddler's  ears, 
the  clamor  of  his  vehicle  insuring  him  against 
the  pain  of  listening  to  indignant  reproach 
when  under  way.  He  passed  round  the  house 
and  thundered  down  the  drive,  a  roaring  medley 
of  motor  and  exhaust,  with  crashing  gears, 
loose  merchandise  banging  against  the  walls 


THE    PEDDLER 21 

of  his  house  inside  and  drumming  without,  and, 
above  all,  the  shrill  pipings  of  his  little  dog — 
and  so  he  made  safely  the  passage  of  the  gates, 
and  the  diapason  of  noise  dissolved  gradually 
in  the  distance. 

All  of  this  had  taken  valuable  time.  The 
car  had  been  brought  to  the  door,  but  James, 
in  an  ugly  humor,  was  perversely  deaf  to  Diana's 
entreaties  for  haste.  He  got  himself  hatted 
and  coated  and  caned,  then  remembered  some 
papers  he  had  overlooked,  then  decided  on 
another  matinal  drink,  and  despite  his  sister's 
angry  protests  went  back  for  that.  They  had 
a  run  of  six  miles  ahead  to  the  station  at  which 
the  express  stopped,  most  of  this  over  bad 
roads  where  the  frost  was  coming  out  of  the 
ground. 

Ready  at  last,  James,  as  if  desiring  further 
to  madden  his  sister,  decided  to  drive  himself. 
He  plucked  her  away  from  the  wheel  gently 
enough,  but  equally  firmly,  and  slid  under  it 
himself.  Then  he  took  it  suddenly  into  his 
head  that  as  haste  was  imperative  she  had 
better  stay  at  home  and  let  the  chauffeur  go 
with  him  to  bring  back  the  car,  which  was  a 
light  roadster  and,  through  some  crankism  of 
James  about  tire  wear,  not  equipped  with 
chains. 


22 THE    PEDDLER 

This  naturally  started  a  fresh  wrangle. 

"Oh,  get  along!"  cried  Diana,  furiously. 
"I'm  going  to  see  that  you  don't  break  your 
silly  drunken  neck." 

"You  are  enough  to  drive  any  one  to  drink," 
said  James.  "Will  you  get  out  or  must  I 
chuck  you  out?" 

"Shut  up  and  start  if  you  want  to  get  that 
train!"  cried  Diana.  "Saunders  has  beat  it 
for  the  garage.  He's  got  some  sense." 

"More  than  one  can  say  for  you,"  growled 
James,  and  started  with  a  jerk,  bounded  to  the 
gates,  skidded  out  onto  the  greasy  road,  and 
slammed  into  full  speed  ahead. 

They  tore  over  the  road  at  an  unhallowed 
pace,  and,  just  before  reaching  the  top  of  the 
dangerous  descent  known  as  Oak  Hill,  overtook 
the  big  sky-blue  peddler's  van,  which  was 
rocking  and  swaying  and  clanging  along  like 
the  good  ship  Bolivar  of  Kipling's  poem.  This 
occasioned  another  delay,  as  it  mopped  up  all 
the  road,  while  it  took  their  horn  some  time  to 
pierce  its  frightful  din.  Then  it  shifted  over 
with  a  deliberation  that  roused  James  to 
frenzy,  and  he  shot  past,  vociferating  ill  words 
which  nobody  could  hear. 

This  was  the  bad  part  of  the  road  about 
which  Diana  had  warned  her  brother,  and  one 


THE    PEDDLER  23 

to  be  approached  with  caution  at  all  times, 
for  the  steep  and  winding  descent  was  cut 
in  the  side  of  a  gorge,  not  very  deep,  but  pre 
cipitous.  On  the  left  the  ground  rose  steeply, 
while  on  the  right  it  dropped  sheer  for  about 
fifty  or  sixty  feet.  The  place  was  thickly 
wooded  with  very  big  white  oaks,  the  upper 
branches  of  these  sawed  off  where  they  impinged 
upon  the  road,  those  still  higher  springing  over 
it  to  form  an  aboreal  arch. 

But  James  did  not  approach  with  caution. 
He  had  by  this  time  worked  himself  into  the 
characteristic  Kirkland  rage  over  his  errand, 
the  peddler,  and  Diana's  caustic  admonitions, 
while  the  parting  drink  was  now  beginning  its: 
permeation  of  his  system,  to  the  damage  of 
what  little  prudence  it  could  boast  under  the 
most  propitious  circumstances. 

He  took  the  top  of  the  hill  as  though  he  had 
decided  to  ignore  its  windings  and  go  across 
lots  to  the  bottom  by  the  airplane  route,  and 
this  in  fact  he  almost  did.  At  the  first  bend, 
discovering  his  error,  he  tried  to  brake.  The 
car  was  light,  with  no  chains,  and  no  weight  in 
the  rear.  It  took  a  fearful  skid,  checked,  then 
gently  left  the  road  as  though  deciding  to 
climb  a  tree,  and  this  by  some  strange  freak 
of  destiny  it  practically  accomplished.  For 


24 THE    PEDDLER 

; 

the  heavy  barricade  of  posts  and  planks  yielded 
slowly  under  the  thrust  of  its  forward  part, 
and  the  machine,  quite  out  of  hand,  slid  forward 
on  this,  upheld  by  the  jutting  stump  of  an 
oak  branch,  furnished  a  sort  of  scaffold  on 
which  the  car  came  to  rest,  suspended  in  mid 
air  about  forty  feet  above  the  foot  of  the  tree. 
And  so  nicely  was  it  balanced  that  as  James 
reached  forward  to  cut  off  his  current  it  rocked 
gently  from  side  to  side. 

The  slightest  move  would  have  been  fatal, 
destroyed  their  equilibrium,  precipitated  them 
into  the  abyss,  the  car  on  top  of  them.  They 
realized  this  just  as  one  realizes  that  to  step  a 
little  to  one  side  of  a  light  skiff  will  mean  to 
get  a  ducking.  Slowly,  scarcely  daring  even 
as  much  as  that,  James  turned  his  ashen  face 
to  Diana. 

"Don't  budge,"  said  he,  sepulchrally,  "Don't 
bat  an  eyelash." 

Diana  did  not  answer.  She  could  look 
straight  down  and  see  the  loose  stones  and 
bushes  beneath.  Some  of  the  bank  slid  off  and 
went  rattling  down  and  their  hearts  stopped 
pumping.  It  seemed  to  them  that  a  falling 
acorn  from  the  higher  branches  of  the  great 
tree  would  be  enough  to  topple  them  over. 
But  it  was  springtime  and  there  were  no  acorns. 


THE    PEDDLER 25 

They  did  not  know  what  moment  the  bank 
might  cave  under  the  weight  of  their  hind 
wheels  or  the  stump  supporting  them  give  way. 

So  they  sat  like  to  graven  figures  waiting 
respectfully  on  the  will  of  Nemesis,  not  daring 
to  look  back,  dreading  to  speak,  scarcely  vent 
uring  to  breathe. 

Then  James  boomed  cavernously,  "So  help 
me,  Di,  if  we  get  out  of  this  alive  I'll  never 
take  another  drink!" 

With  eyes  fixed  to  the  front,  Diana  answered : 
"I  don't  quite  see  how  we  are  going  to  get  out 
of  it  alive,  James.  Do  you?" 

It  is  astonishing  that  they  could  speak  at  all, 
expecting  as  they  did  to  go  crashing  down  to 
death  and  mutilation.  But  it  must  be  remem 
bered  that  the  Kirklands  were  folks  of  strong 
fiber,  given  all  their  lives  to  the  practice  of 
dangerous  sports,  and  that  the  brothers  of  the 
family  had  recently  returned  from  war,  James 
and  William  from  the  front,  the  twins  from 
the  chasing  of  submarines  and  sweeping  of 
mines  on  the  coast  of  France. 

"Will  you  forgive  me,  Di?" 

"Shut  upx,  James." 

.-It  was  at  this  terrible  moment  that  they  first 
took  note  of  a  stupendous  clamor  approaching 
James   set   his    teeth,    and   his   heart 


26 THE    PEDDLER 

seemed  to  hang  balanced  like  the  car,  for  he 
realized  that  the  slightest  vibration,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  jolt  and  jar  of  the  big,  heavy- 
laden  truck,  would  spell  their  doom.  His  head 
turned  stiffly,  and,  chin  on  shoulder,  he  saw  the 
great  van  loom  up  over  the  crest  of  the  hill,  not 
fifty  yards  away,  and  the  peddler  rise  suddenly 
to  his  feet.  At  the  same  instant  the  van 
swerved,  effectually  to  block  the  road  for  all 
traffic,  and  its  clangor  ceased. 

Then  followed  some  swift  action  which 
James  watched  as  through  a  mist.  He  saw 
the  peddler  leap  down,  run  back,  and  plunge 
into  the  rear  of  the  truck,  almost  instantly 
to  emerge  with  a  coil  of  soft  rope — Italian 
hemp,  made  expressly  for  the  mainsheet  of- 
sailing  racing  craft.  He  snatched  a  block 
from  the  side  of  the  van  and  attached  it  to  the 
end  of  the  rope  as  he  ran  toward  them. 

"Don't  move!"  he  cried,  not  excitedly,  but 
with  a  certain  buoyant  cheer.  "You're  all 
right  if  you  keep  perfectly  still."  He  dropped 
the  coil  on  the  road  and  quickly  caught  up  a 
smaller  one.  "I'll  have  you  out  of  there  before 
you  can  say  'knife,'  as  our  English  allies 
graphically  express  one's  going  some." 

Pattering  a  steady  stream  of  nonsense  in 
his  curious  lilting  voice,  he  tossed  the  coil 


THE    PEDDLER 27 

deftly  over  a  limb  above  his  head,  caught  a 
running  turn,  hauled  it  taut,  and  James, 
watching  his  reflection  in  the  mirror,  saw  him 
go  up  hand  over  hand  with  an  ease  which  told 
of  tremendous  muscular  activity.  He  drew 
his  body  across  the  bough,  got  astride  it, 
loosed  his  rope,  and  swarmed  along  until  directly 
over  their  heads.  Here  he  gathered  in  the  line, 
caught  two  bights  in  its  ends,  dropped  one 
over  each  of  them,  drew  taut,  and  took  a  turn, 
leading  the  line  at  an  angle  which  brought  it 
over  the  rear  of  the  car. 

"Now  get  up  as  gently  as  you  can,"  said 
the  peddler,  "and  crawl  aft  as  though  you  were 
walking  on  eggs.  You  can't  fall." 

With  a  feeling  of  Heaven-sent  security  they 
obeyed  his  instructions.  "See!  Saw!  Marjory 
Daw,"  sang  the  peddler,  and  as  they  climbed 
over  the  back  seat,  the  car  swaying  gently  under 
them,  he  slacked  his  line  a  little.  "Rock-a-bye, 
baby,  in  the  tree-top —  Now  loose  the  bights 
round  you  and  swing  down  on  to  the  road. 
Easy  does  it!  Voifol" 

Their  feet  touched  firm  ground.  Diana's 
strong  knees  buckled  under  her  and  she  might 
have  fallen  if  James  had  not  caught  her  under 
the  arms  and  carried  her  across  to  the  bank, 
where  she  sank  down  and  covered  her  face 


28 THE    PEDDLER 

with  her  hands.  The  peddler  swarmed  back 
along  the  bough,  grabbed  two  parts  of  the  rope, 
and  slid  down. 

"Now  to  save  the  pretty  wagon,"  said  he. 
"If  you'll  kindly  lend  me  a  hand,  sir." 

"Oh,  hang  the  car!"  said  James,  unsteadily. 
"There's  nothing  you  can  do  with  that."  He 
looked  under  it  and  shuddered.  "The  least 
tug  and  she'll  topple  over." 

"We  shall  take  measures  to  keep  her  on  an 
even  keel,"  said  the  peddler.  "One  of  my 
tackles  rigged  from  her  forward  part  and  car 
ried  to  a  chain  strop  in  the  fork  of  the  tree 
will  prevent  her  capsizing  and  at  the  same  time 
neutralize  her  gravitation.  Then  you  may 
catch  a  turn  with  the  running  end  and  slack 
handsomely  while  I  haul  her  astern." 

"But,  good  Lord,  man!"  cried  James,  who 
was  himself  no  poor  mechanic,  "you  can't 
expect  to  haul  her  astern  single-handed." 

"Ah,  sir,"  said  the  peddler,  reproachfully, 
"if  only  you  had  consented  to  make  a  brief 
inspection  of  my  splendid  stock  hi  trade  you 
would  feel  differently  about  it." 

"All  the  same,"  said  James,  doggedly,  "you'll 
never  be  able  to  manage  it.  Bet  you  what  you 
like." 

A  gleam  shone  in  the  clear  gray  eyes  of  the 


THE    PEDDLER  29 

peddler.  They  rested  for  a  moment  on  Diana, 
who  had  dropped  her  hands  and  was  staring 
at  him  in  a  fascinated  way.  He  prattled  on 
in  his  blithe,  cheery  voice. 

"What  time  is  it,  sir?"  he  asked. 

James  glanced  at  his  watch.  "Five  minutes 
past  nine,"  he  answered. 

"Very  well,  sir.  My  sporting  instincts  for 
bid  me  to  bet  on  a  sure  thing,  but  if  at  twenty- 
five  minutes  past  nine  your  truant  car  is  not 
safely  wedded  to  the  road  I  will  waive  all 
salvage  claims.  On  the  contrary,  if  her  return 
to  it  is  safely  effected  within  that  time  you  may 
purchase  from  me  at  ten  per  cent,  below  the 
catalogue  price  such  mechanical  devices  as  I 
shall  have  occasion  to  employ  in  her  rescue." 

•'You're  on,"  said  James,  smiling  for  the 
first  time  that  day.  "More  than  that,  I'll 
promise  you  my  entire  trade." 

"They're  off!" 

The  peddler  ran  swiftly  up  the  road  to  his 
rolling  store,  returning  with  a  short  length  of 
galvanized  chain,  a  coil  of  new  rope,  and  two 
heavy  three-sheaved  tackles. 

What  immediately  followed  was  for  James  a 
rapid  course  in  applied  mechanics.  The  ped 
dler  rigged  his  tackle  with  incredible  swiftness, 
swarmed  up  on  the  limb  overhead,  passed  the 


30 THE    PEDDLER 

chain  strop  through  the  fork  of  the  tree,  hooked 
on  the  tackle,  and  overhauled  it.  Then,  with 
James  holding  the  running  end,  he  stepped  on 
the  lower  block  and  slipped  down  beside  the 
car,  to  the  chassis  of  which  he  rigged  a  bridle 
with  another  short  piece  of  chain.  Hooking 
a  block  to  this,  he  directed  James  to  haul  taut 
and  catch  a  turn  round  a  tree  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  road. 

The  car,  thus  suspended,  could  neither  drop 
nor  capsize,  the  operation  thus  securing  it 
having  taken  just  twelve  minutes.  The  ped 
dler  had  hurried  back  to  his  truck  for  additional 
gear  when  there  came  the  sound  of  a  motor 
mounting  the  hill,  and  a  moment  later  a  big 
limousine  arrived  on  the  scene  of  operations 
and  stopped.  Its  occupants,  a  gentleman  past 
middle  age  and  a  young  and  pretty  girl,  got 
out  upon  the  road. 

"Merciful  Heavens,  James!"  cried  the  gen 
tleman,  "were  you  two  aboard  when  your 
boat  started  to  climb  that  tree?" 

"We  were  very  much  aboard,  sir,"  James 
answered;  "and  I  don't  think  that  I  shall 
ever  be  the  same  man  again." 

"You  certainly  will  not,  thank  God,  if  you 
keep  your  promise,"  said  Diana. 

The   accident   was   quickly   explained,    and 


THE    PEDDLER  31 

while  they  were  talking  the  peddler  hurried 
back  laden  with  another  coil  of  rope  and  drag 
ging  a  peculiar-looking  mechanical  device. 

"We've  made  a  bet,  Mr.  Metcalf,"  said 
James.  "He  says  he  can  haul  the  car  back 
on  the  road  single-handed  while  I  slack  away, 
and  I  say  that  he  can't." 

"You  win,  James,"  said  Mr.  Metcalf.  "It 
can't  be  done." 

His  chauffeur  nodded  with  conviction. 

"Better  rig  a  tackle  on  her  and  make  fast 
to  our  front  axle,"  said  he.  "Then  I  can 
back  down  and  haul  her  in." 

"Then  if  she  fell  you  would  follow  her  down, 
brother,"  said  the  peddler.  "In  that  case  I 
should  lose  my  bet  and  forfeit  a  sale." 

Working  quickly,  he  secured  his  apparatus 
to  a  tree  about  which  James  had  taken  his  turn, 
and  attached  to  the  rear  axle  of  the  car  a  pur 
chase  which  was  a  part  of  his  compact  and  queer- 
looking  contrivance.  Then  seizing  the  handle  of 
this,  he  started  briskly  to  walk  it  round. 

"What  the  deuce  is  that  thing?"  asked  Mr. 
Metcalf. 

"That,  sir,"  said  the  peddler,  "is  something 
which  no  farmer  or  country  gentleman  nor 
owner  of  small  boats  can  afford  to  be  without. 
It  is  known  as  the  Samson  One-man  Stump- 


32 THE    PEDDLER 

puller.  It  will  jerk  out  any  ordinary  sized 
stump  as  one  might  pluck  a  loosened  milk 
tooth  from  the  gum  of  his  little  boy.  An  able- 
bodied  man  can  clear  an  acre  a  day,  and  it  will 
also  serve  as  a  windlass  to  haul  up  your  launch 
on  an  impromptu  set  of  ways.  A  safe,  a  piano, 
or  billiard-table  might  be  readily  installed  with 
the  Samson  One-man  Stump-puller  properly 
rigged."  He  glanced  at  the  car,  which  was 
tugging  at  its  suspending  tackle.  "She  starts, 
she  moves,  she  seems  to  feel — the  One-man 
Samson  at  her  keel!  Likewise,  'Yo,  ho,  ho, 
and  a  bottle  of  rum,'  when  but  one  man  of  the 
crew  alive  can  do  the  work  of  seventy-five — 
thanks  to  the  One-man  Stump-puller  at  ten 
per  cent,  below  the  catalogue  price,  which  will 
presently  be  the  property  of —  What  time  is 
it,  sir?"  he  asked  of  James. 

"Twenty-three  minutes  past — " 

" — of  this  gentleman.  Slack  handsomely, 
sir,  if  you  please.  She  is  coming  straight  as  a 
homing  dove,  though  all  her  headway  is  stern- 
way,  as  the  Irish  skipper  said." 

He  began  to  run  round  a  little  faster  and 
the  car  moved  steadily  back  on  to  the  road, 
while  the  excited  spectators  cheered  with 
laughter  and  delight.  The  forward  end  sagged 
a  little  over  the  brink. 


THE    PEDDLER 33 

' '  Let  go,  sir, ' '  said  the  peddler.  ' '  It  would  not 
matter  if  she  were  at  the  bottom  of  the  ravine, 
the  Samson  One-man  Stump-puller  could  snake 
her  up  by  the  tail.  What  time  is  it,  sir?" 

"Nine  twenty -four,"  said  James. 

For  thirty  seconds  the  peddler  sprinted  like 
a  dog  in  a  fit.  The  front  wheels  of  the  car 
rolled  up  over  the  edge  and  on  to  terra  firma. 

" Throw  on  your  brake,  sir!"  he  cried. 

As  James  did  so  the  peddler  released  his 
hold,  staggered  back,  and  sat  down  suddenly 
upon  the  bank,  the  spectators  shrieking  with 
delight.  Diana  was  perhaps  the  only  one  to 
appreciate  how  this  extraordinary  personality 
had,  as  though  changing  a  lyric  masque,  trans 
formed  tragedy  into  comedy. 

James  looked  at  his  watch. 

"You  had  at  least  ten  seconds  to  spare," 
said  he.  "You  win,  but  you  needn't  think 
I'm  going  to  let  you  off  with  the  purchase  of 
this  loose  gear  and  that  extraordinary  little 
contraption.  You  have  saved  my  life,  which 
is  of  negative  value ;  that  of  my  sister,  which  is 
priceless;  and  a  perfectly  good  new  car.  I  will 
take  your  whole  stock  in  trade  and  then  some." 

The  peddler  shook  his  head. 

"No  can  do,  sir,"  said  he.  "The  personal 
service  is  only  such  as  should  be  rendered  by 


34  THE    PEDDLER 

any  traveler  over  the  open  road  to  another  in 
distress.  The  salvage  of  the  car  has  cost  me 
nothing,  and  as  for  my  stock  in  trade  it  would 
not  be  fair  to  the  rest  of  the  community  to 
deprive  it  temporarily  of  the  opportunity  to 
purchase  many  indispensable  articles  of  ex 
ceptional  quality  at  a  minimum  price." 

Mr.  Metcalf's  eyes  twinkled. 

"What  is  your  name,  young  man?"  he  asked. 

"Emory  Clamp,  sir,  at  your  service." 

The  peddler  tugged  at  the  front  of  his  b£ret. 

"Well,  then,  Clamp,  if  you  are  ever  going 
over  this  part  of  the  road  about  nightfall  and 
want  a  place  to  'rest  your  caravan,'  just  turn 
into  the  lane  opposite  my  house  and  you'll 
find  a  nice  spot  beside  the  brook  on  the  far 
side  of  my  pasture  lot.  You  can  also  inscribe 
me  on  your  list  of  clients." 

"I  thank  you,  sir,"  said  Clamp.  "Besides 
my  vocation  of  peddler  I  am  also  tinker  and 
expert  jack-of-all-trades,  house-mover,  tree- 
mender,  specialist  in  the  treatment  of  sick 
motors  whether  on  wheels  or  keels,  and  can 
boast  some  slight  skill  as  a  blacksmith."  He 
turned  to  James.  "And  now,  sir,  if  I  can  be 
of  no  further  service  to  you  we  may  settle  our 
little  account  for  the  Samson  and  other  gear, 
and  I  shall  wend  my  way." 


Chapter  III 

AS  the  big  truck  volleyed  and  thundered 
•**•  on  its  course  the  peddler  tugged  at  the 
silky  ears  of  the  little  dog  beside  him  and 
stared  ahead  with  a  face  from  which  the  mask 
of  comedy  had  been  for  the  moment  removed. 

His  keen  eye  missed  no  detail  of  the  route 
he  traveled,  and  presently,  passing  the  Metcalf 
estate,  they  took  most  accurate  note  of  each 
and  every  feature,  the  palatial  house  with  its 
broad,  splendid  terraces,  pergola  and  sunken 
garden,  and  as  much  as  could  be  seen  of  stables 
and  garage.  He  remarked  the  lane  which  Mr. 
Metcalf  had  mentioned  as  leading  to  a  snug 
parking-place,  should  his  need  for  it  arrive. 

Holding  noisily  upon  his  way,  he  passed 
through  the  town,  where  the  sight  of  his  equip 
ment  brought  smiles  to  the  faces  of  the  populace 
and  frowns  to  those  of  local  shopkeepers,  who 
saw  in  him  an  insidious  competitor  for  trade. 
The  peddler  did  not  stop,  but  clanked  and 
clattered  down  the  main  street,  crossed  the 
railroad  track,  and  climbed  an  easy  ascent  where 
the  road  led  presently  not  far  from  the  edge 
of  the  low  cliffs.  Here  for  a  short  stretch  the 


36  THE    PEDDLER 

view  was  extensive,  and  as  though  desiring  to 
enjoy  it  he  drew  the  van  to  the  side  of  the  road 
and  stopped,  then  got  down  and  walked  to 
the  cliff's  edge,  where  he  stood  looking  seaward 
meditatively. 

He  was  thus  idly  occupied  when  there  came 
the  sound  of  a  motor,  and  he  looked  back  over 
the  road  which  he  had  just  traveled  to  see 
thereby  approaching  the  car  which  he  had  so 
recently  rescued,  now  driven  by  the  girl,  who 
was  alone.  The  peddler  was  not  greatly  sur 
prised  even  when  the  girl,  almost  in  the  manner 
of  one  who  keeps  a  rendezvous,  turned  in  be 
hind  the  truck,  stopped  her  motor,  got  out,  and 
walked  slowly  in  his  direction.  As  she  drew 
near  he  observed  that  her  face  was  still  very 
pale  and  her  eyes  brilliant  as  though  from  some 
suppressed  emotion.  Also  it  seemed  to  him 
that  her  walk  showed  a  slight  unsteadiness,  as 
might  have  been  expected  of  one  who  had  recently 
passed  through  such  a  nerve-racking  ordeal. 

It  was  she  who  first  spoke. 

"I  couldn't  let  you  go  without  thanking  you, 
Mr.  Clamp,"  said  she.  "My  brother  made 
such  an  awkward  mess  of  what  he  tried  to  say. 
He  felt  a  great  deal  more  than  that.  I  couldn't 
speak  myself  because  I  hadn't  yet  got  myself 
together." 


THE    PEDDLER  37 

The  peddler  smiled. 

"You  are  not  yet  quite  back  where  you  be 
long,"  said  he;  "and  no  wonder.  An  accident 
is  one  thing,  but  to  have  to  sit  for  several  min 
utes  balanced  as  you  were  and  waiting  for  the 
catastrophe  to  happen  is  quite  another.  You 
must  be  a  young  lady  of  tremendous  nervous 
force  to  be  able  to  drive  your  car  so  soon  after 
the  ordeal.  I  imagine  that  death  holds  slight 
terror  for  you.  You  believe  with  Epictetus- — 
'  I  cannot  escape  death,  but  cannot  I  escape  the 
dread  of  it?"  He  motioned  to  a  big  fiat  rock. 
"Nevertheless,  you  had  better  sit  down." 

Diana  seated  herself,  but  the  peddler  re 
mained  standing  in  front  of  her,  his  arms 
folded  across  his  big  chest,  feet  together,  pose 
and  expression  rather  that  of  one  awaiting  to  be 
catechized.  A  physiognomist  would  have  said 
that  he  courted  this,  and  he  would  have  been 
right. 

"I  shall  not  try  to  thank  you,"  began  Diana, 
"because  that  would  be  superfluous.  But  I 
could  not  let  you  go  away  without  saying  any 
thing  at  all.  Perhaps  the  best  thing  would  be 
to  tell  you  that  you  have  rendered  a  greater 
service  than  you  think  by  your  courage  and 
presence  of  mind." 

"The  presence  of  mind  is  merely  experience," 


38 THE    PEDDLER 

said  the  peddler,  "and  courage  did  not  enter 
into  it." 

"Since  you  appear  to  know  the  ancient 
philosophers,  you  may  remember  that  Aristotle 
says,  'Experience  and  skill  in  their  various 
particulars  is  thought  to  be  a  species  of  courage, 
whence  Socrates  also  thought  that  courage  was 
knowledge.'"  She  looked  up  at  his  face  and 
laughed.  "Your  surprised  expression  is  not 
very  flattering.  Father  likes  to  have  me  read 
these  essays  to  him.  He  has  ruined  his  optic 
nerve  by  strong  drink,  and  my  brothers  are 
trying  their  best  to  do  the  same.  While  we 
were  sitting  in  the  car,  waiting  on  death 
and  mutilation,  James  promised  me  that  if 
we  got  out  of  it  alive  he  would  never  touch 
another  drop.  Then  you  came  and  got  us  out 
alive." 

"That  is  good  to  hear,"  said  the  peddler, 
"though  of  course  my  part  of  it  was  merely 
as  an  instrument  of  the  All  Good." 

"All  parts  are  merely  instrumental,  I  sup 
pose,  but  one  cannot  help  admiring  the  instru 
ment.  What  impressed  me  most  was  not  your 
strength,  or  speed,  or  skill,  but  your  chatter. 
I  understood  the  reason  of  it  as  well  as  if  you 
had  said,  'I  must  occupy  her  mind  because 
if  she  flops  over  in  a  faint  the  car  will  capsize 


THE    PEDDLER 39 

and  fall  on  top  of  them.'  Do  you  remember 
what  extraordinary  things  you  said?'* 

"Not  entirely." 

Diana's  deep  violet  eyes  fixed  themselves  on 
his  face.  She  leaned  forward,  resting  an  elbow 
on  one  knee,  dropped  her  chin  on  her  knuckles, 
and  appeared  to  concentrate  in  an  undisguised 
effort  to  take  his  measure.  The  peddler  with 
stood  the  examination  with  no  visible  embar 
rassment 

"In  all  your  nonsense,"  said  Diana,  ""you 
showed)  yourself  to  be  a  very  erudite  man. 
Another  girl  might  not  have  found  you  out, 
but*  dad  has  a  mania  for  philosophic  essays  and 
I  'have  read  him  such  a  lot.  Then  I  tutored 
with  the  boys  when  they  were  working  off 
conditions  in  Greek  and  Latin.  There's  a  good 
deal  of  it  has  stuck." 

"A  man  may  be  a  peddler  and  yet  well  read. 
Reading  is  in  fact  my  principal  recreation,  and 
my  taste  is  that  of  your  honored  parent. 
Health  and  a  practical  working  philosophy  are 
all  that  any  man  really  needs.  Besides,  it  is 
part  of  my  stock  in  trade.  The  quickest  way 
to  get  a  customer  is  to  amuse  him.  Following 
the  advice  of  Aristophanes  I  get  a  good  deal  of 
business  by  lying  on  my  back  and  staring  at 
the  clouds.  *  Heavenly  clouds  who  supply  us 


40 THE    PEDDLER 

with  thought  and  argument  and  intelligence 
and  humbug  and  circumlocution  and  ability 
to  hoax,  and  comprehension." 

He  smiled,  and  Diana  was  conscious  of  a 
curious  thrill  such  as  she  had  never  felt  before 
in  talking  with  any  man.  It  confused  her  a 
little,  and  the  high  coloring  driven  from  her 
face  by  the  crisis  through  which  she  had  passed 
suddenly  returned. 

"Why  are  you  a  peddler?"  she  asked. 

He  motioned  to  a  schooner  in  the  offing, 
heading  out  for  the  Grand  Banks. 

"Why  are  those  men  cod-fishers?  Because 
they  like  to  earn  their  living  that  way  and 
find  it  profitable.  I  like  the  open  road  and 
hope  to  find  my  calling  profitable  when  I  suc 
ceed  in  establishing  a  clientele.  That  van  is 
not  only  my  store,  but  my  home.  I  rig  a  tent 
from  stanchions  and  ridgepole  on  the  top." 

"I  wish  that  I  could  help  you  with  your 
clientele." 

"You  can — by  recommending  me  to  your 
friends  and  acquaintances  in  the  neighborhood. 
My  goods  are  really  first  class,  inexpensive, 
and  I  am  a  skilled  artisan.  I  served  an  appren 
ticeship  in  a  shipyard,  where  one  learns  to  do  a 
t little  bit  of  everything." 

"But  you  appear  to  be  well  educated." 


THE    PEDDLER 41 

"A  course  in  Tech." 

Diana  reflected  for  a  moment. 

"Have  you  a  road  map?"  she  asked. 

The  peddler  nodded  and  drew  one  from  his 
pocket. 

"Give  me  your  pencil,"  said  Diana,  "and 
I  will  mark  the  locations  of  the  people  I  know, 
with  their  names.  The  story  of  what  happened 
this  morning  is  sure  to  get  about  and  you  will 
be  well  received.  How  often  do  you  expect  to 
make  your  rounds?" 

"I  have  planned  a  circuit  which  I  ought  to 
cover  about  every  fortnight.  As  I  figure  it, 
these  big  estates  are  almost  always  in  need  of 
something  and  the  local  stores  are  poorly 
stocked  just  now.  This  is  a  new  venture  of 
mine  and  I  don't  see  why  it  should  not  succeed. 
I  bought  that  army  truck  at  a  bargain  and 
stocked  it  with  about  everything  I  could  think 
of.  It  is  amazing  how  much  you  can  get  in  a 
thing  like  that." 

Diana,  busy  with  the  map,  did  not  answer. 
The  peddler  looked  down  on  the  lovely  flushed 
face,  the  heavy  black  hair  hastily  rearranged 
and  curling  in  fine  wisps  about  the  broad  white 
forehead.  He  took  note  of  the  straight,  dark 
eyebrows,  the  long,  thick  fringe  of  black  lashes 
which  screened  the  violet  eyes,  the  beautiful 


42 THE    PEDDLER 

lines  of  neck  and  shoulders,  and  the  capable  but 
exquisite  hand  which  held  his  fountain-pen. 

Something  which  was  not  commercial  ambi 
tion  was  shining  from  his  eyes  as  she  looked 
up  at  him,  thoughtfully  tapping  the  penholder 
against  her  lips. 

"Here  are  ten  houses  for  you  to  visit/'  said 
she;  Hall  big  places  where  you  oqght 4p  get 
good  orders,  I  must  go  now." 

She  rose  to  her  feet  and  held  out  her  hand. 
The  peddler  took  it,  and  as  they  stood  for  a 
moment  looking  into  each  other's  eyes  both 
were  conscious  of  some  new  and  unexperienced 
reaction,  the  sense  of  an  unexpressed,  undefined 
relation  as  of  an  agreement  entered  in^,  an 
understanding  vague  yet  positive,  ft£bpjp£t  a 
compact  of  friendship  which,  though  it  -seamed 
to  bind,  did  not  embarrass  or  carry  with^t  any 
sense  of  obligation.  They  were  almosfrtrf  a 
height,  and  as  Diana's  level  gaze  met  ifchat  of 
the  peddler  they  smiled  without  confusion, 
though  the  girl's  color  grew  a  little  deeper. 

"Thank  you,"  said  the  peddler.  M<I  feel  as 
if  you  had  started  me  on  a  successful  business 
career." 

"Well,'*  said  Diana,  "you  have  undotfbtMly 
prolonged  my  life.  I'm  not  a  coward,,  but  I 
doubt  if  I  could  have  sat  tight  much&pn.ger. 


THE    PEDDLER  43 

It  was  not  the  fear  of  being  killed ;  it  was  look 
ing  down  and  seeing  myself  smashed  to  smither 
eens.  Good-by." 

She  turned  and  walked  back  to  the  car  with 
a  steady,  swinging  stride,  got  in,  backed  round, 
gave  him  a  wave  of  the  hand,  and  drove  away. 

The  peddler  stood  looking  after  her  until 
she  had  disappeared  round  the  bend,  then 
turned  on  his  heel  and  moved  slowly  toward 
his  van.  His  face  was  meditative,  and  as  he 
walked  he  hummed  his  little  song: 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-ton,  Mirontaine." 


Chapter  IV 

ON  the  veranda  of  a  new  and  handsome 
country  house  directly  on  the  shore  of 
the  bay  two  women  and  a  man  were  taking 
their  afternoon  tea,  served  by  a  Filipino  butler. 

It  is  probable  that  in  none  of  the  rich  and 
fashionable  summer  homes  throughout  that 
region  could  there  have  been  found  three  more 
attractive  or  distinguished  -  looking  people. 
Both  of  the  women  were  very  beautiful,  while 
the  man  would  have  been  considered  anywhere 
handsome,  well  born,  and  of  uncommonly  inter 
esting  personality.  But  the  trained  physiog 
nomist  would  have  picked  out  certain  marked 
defects,  for  though  his  forehead  was  broad, 
high,  and  intellectual,  and  the  features  individu 
ally  good  and  well  proportioned,  there  was  still 
a  certain  suspicious  lack  of  harmony  in  their 
arrangement. 

The  lustrous  brown  eyes  were  not  quite  on 
the  same  horizontal  level.  One  nostril  of  the 
finely  chiseled  aquiline  nose  was  distinctly 
larger  than  the  other,  while  not  even  the  well- 
kept  mustache  and  closely  trimmed  Vandyke, 
which  grew  to  the  margin  of  the  lips,  could 


THE    PEDDLER 45 

have  hidden  from  skilled  observation  the  sen 
suality  and  sinister  cruelty  of  the  mouth.  The 
lips  themselves  were  too  red.  The  line  of  the 
front  teeth  had  a  curious  upward  concavity  and 
the  large  size  of  the  canines  was  disproportion 
ate,  like  those  found  in  simian  species. 

Nevertheless,  almost  anybody,  particularly 
a  woman,  would  have  pronounced  the  man 
exceptionally  handsome  and  magnetic,  proba 
bly  a  member  of  European  nobility — Russian, 
Polish;  or  Hungarian.  He  was  at  this  moment 
immaculately  dressed  in  such  a  costume  of 
country  negligee  as  ,one  associates  with  the 
guests  of  a  French  chateau,  his  clothes  unques 
tionably  of  Parisian  tailoring.  He  wore  the 
red  tibbon  of  a  Chevalier  of  the  Legion  of  Honor 
in  his  lapel,  and  the  extraordinary  feature  of 
this  ^decoration  was  the  fact  of  its  having  been 
actually  conferred  upon  him  shortly  before  the 
close  of  the  war.  For  this  man,  known  generally 
as  the  Comte  de  Vallignac,  had  some  years 
previously  been  the  principal  aide,  one  might 
almost  say  the  secretary,  of  the  most  notorious 
and  justly  dreaded  criminal  of  Europe,  the 
fearful  Chu-Chu  le  Tondeur  (Chu-Chu  the 
Shearer). 

The  two  women  were  distinctly  different  in 
type.  The  elder,  who  appeared  about  thirty- 


46 THE    PEDDLER 

two,  was  of  an  exotic,  almost  startling  beauty, 
while  the  physical  attractions  of  the  younger 
were,  in  regard  to  her  face,  of  such  a  baffling 
and  subtle  sort  as  to  make  her  in  some  degree 
the  more  fascinating  of  the  two.  Both  were 
exquisitely  gowned  with  that  simplicity  only 
to  be  achieved  by  the  master  couturier  and  the 
mere  expression  of  which  to  the  experienced 
eye  suggests  at  once  not  only  art  and  beauty, 
but  an  appalling  inroad  upon  the  bank  balance. 
Both  also  possessed  a  certain  grace  and  poise 
and  manner  of  moving  and  speaking  which  be 
spoke  an  elegance  impossible  to  affect,  and 
which  in  their  cases  was  indeed  the  result  of 
birth,  education,  and  lifelong  association  with 
cultivated  people. 

The  conversation  was  in  French,  and  any 
person  who  might  have  been  present  and  did 
not  understand  this  language  could  never 
have  guessed,  from  the  polite  and  quiet  diction, 
with  what  virulent  bitterness  their  speech  was 
charged.  This  applied  more  particularly  to 
what  was  being  said  by  the  man  and  the  young 
er  woman,  who  looked  to  be  about  twenty-four. 

"One  might  stand  being  fooled  by  a  Lepine 
or  one  of  his  ace  agents  like  Larue  or  Merlin 
or  even  a  brilliant  renegade  like  that  accursed 
Frank  Clamart" — his  face  whitened  a  little, 


THE    PEDDLER 47 

from  hate  or  dread  or  both,  as  he  pronounced 
the  name  of  the  man  who  had  broken  up  the 
old  mob,  scattered  its  members  to  the  four 
quarters  of  the  earth,  and  in  hand-to-hand 
encounter  slaughtered  the  dreaded  Chu-Chu, 
like  the  wild  beast  he  was — "but  with  the 
Sultana  actually  in  our  hands  and  no  one  but 
ourselves  so  much  as  guessing  that  it  was 
incased  in  that  lump  of  enamel,  an  utter  im 
becile,  a  young  American  fool  like  this  man 
Plunkett,  tears  it  away  from  us  as  one  might 
snatch  a  sou  from  a  child.  It  was  enough  to 
kill  one  of  pure  chagrin." 

"I  am  not  entirely  sure  that  he  was  the  fool 
you  think,"  said  the  younger  girl,  in  a  cool, 
limpid  voice.  "At  any  rate,  what  is  one  to 
do  when  covered  with  an  automatic  pistol  in 
the  hands  of  a  fool  one  knows  will  not  hesitate 
to  shoot,  especially  when  even  if  you  manage 
to  kill  him  the  first  shot  is  going  to  bring  the 
police?" 

' '  Augh-'h-'h ! ' '  snarled  the  man.  ' '  There  were 
no  police — he  bluffed  us.  We  were  a  pair  of 
idiots.  Now  if  instead  of  being  Patricia  and 
myself  it  had  been  you,  L6ontine,  and  Chu-Chu, 
he  could  never  have  managed  it." 

The  older  woman  laughed. 

"I'm  not  so  sure,  man  ami."    Her  voice  was 


48 THE    PEDDLER 

low  pitched,  throaty,  and  of  that  polyglot 
quality  which  tells  of  a  familiarity  with  many 
tongues.  "You  know  Frank  Clamart  did  pre 
cisely  the  same  thing  with  Chu-Chu  and  Ivan 
right  in  Ivan's  own  library,  and  poor  Ivan  was 
certainly  more  astute  than  any  of  us."  She 
sighed.  "Yet  he  was  the  first  to  go.  I  never 
regretted  Chu-Chu.  He  was  such  a  monster — 
une  b§te  feroce." 

"A  consistent  criminal  has  got  to  be  a  mon 
ster,"  said  Patricia,  softly. 

"That  is  what  Chu-Chu  always  maintained. 
Well,  after  all,  the  situation  is  not  so  bad.  The 
beauty  of  our  position  is  that  the  police  have 
actually  no  charge  against  any  of  us,  while  on 
the  contrary  we  have  all  three  our  certificates 
of  distinguished  service — Stephan  as  a  French 
officer;  Patricia  as  a  special  agent  of  the 
Surete  who  did  so  much  to  suppress  crime  dur 
ing  the  war;  and  I  for  my  efforts  as  an  organizer 
of  Russian  relief  work  and  later  as  a  nurse  with 
the  Red  Cross.  They  would  never  dare  inter 
fere  with  us  even  if  they  knew  where  we  are, 
which  I  doubt." 

"At  any  rate,"  said  Patricia,  "we  know  that 
the  Sultana  went  back  to  Madame  d'Irancy 
and  that  the  little  fool  refused  to  listen  to 
Rosenthal's  advice,  either  to  sell  it  or  lock  it 


"l   MIGHT   HAVE   GUESSED,   I'VE   BEEN   A  FOOL1 


THE    PEDDLER 49 

up  in  safe  deposit.  She  swore  to  me  herself 
that  it  was  never  going  to  leave  her  person." 

"I  wonder  why  Baron  Rosen  thai  did  not 
warn  her  against  you,"  said  L6ontine. 

"He  did  not  dare." 

"Nonsefrse!  That  old  man  dares  anything. 
There  was  never  enough  fear  in  Rosenthal  to 
make  him  step  out  of  the  way,  and  the  odd 
part  of  it  was  that  even  in  the  old  days,  when 
we  knew  him  to  be  our  most  dangerous  enemy, 
nobody  ever  so  much  as  thought  of  trying  to 
silence  him.  The  mere  idea  was  rather  like 
that  of  plugging  Vesuvius  or  turning  a  fire 
hose  on  hell." 

"Rosenthal  had  his  suspicions,"  said  Patricia, 
"but  he  was  not  sure.  For  one  thing,  he  learned 
that  I  had  actually  a  good  standing  in  the 
Surete,  and  he  could  not  be  certain  but  that  I 
was  playing  a  deep  game  and  meant  to  make 
a  mouthful  of  you  others." 

1 '  Diable! ' '  cried  Stephan.  ' '  There  have  been 
moments  when  I  have  not  been  so  sure  of  that 
myself." 

"The  chances  are,"  said  Patricia,  "that 
Rosenthal  got  his  information  about  us  both 
by  cable  from  Frank  Clamart,  but  Clamart 
only  suspected.  Besides,  the  dear  baron  thinks 
that  we  have  gone  to  Buenos  Aires.  Now  he 


So THE    PEDDLER 

has  gone  back  to  France,  and  as  the  Marquise 
d'Irancy  is  going  to  spend  the  month  of  July 
with  the  Metcalfs,  we  ought  to  be  able  to  man 
age  our  coup  before  old  Isidor  is  any  the  wiser." 

"Also  to  pick  up  our  expenses  here  in  this 
millionaire  community,"  said  Stephan.  "We 
were  lucky  to  get  such  experts  as  Jean  and 
Gustave.  Francisco  is  a  clever  boy,  too,  and 
his  sojourn  in  Bilibid  Prison  has  developed 
caution  and  a  pretty  lively  hatred." 

"Once  we  meet  the  Metcalfs,"  said  Leontine, 
"it  should  not  be  difficult  to  get  the  entree. 
We  must  cultivate  the  Kirklands,  too.  They 
are  neighbors  of  the  Metcalfs,  and  the  second 
son,  William,  is  said  to  be  in  love  witlj  Gwen 
dolyn  Metcalf." 

"I  think,"  said  Patricia,  "that  we  may  soon 
be  invited  to  the  Kirklands.  I  played  golf 
yesterday  with  the  oldest  son,  James,  and  he 
promised  to  bring  his  sister  to  call.  By  the 
time  the  Marquise  d'Irancy  comes  we  ought 
to  be  pretty  well  acquainted  in  the  community, 
and  when  she  learns  that  I  am  here  she  will 
probably  ask  Mrs.  Metcalf  to  invite  me  to  one 
of  her  week-end  house  parties.  You  and 
Stephan  can  take  me  in  the  car  or  in  the  boat 
and  get  presented." 

"Speaking    of    the    boat,"    said    Stephan, 


THE    PEDDLER 51 

"reminds  me  that  I  must  get  a  new  anchor 
and  a  length  of  chain  cable.  Jean  may  be  a 
good  safe  expert,  but  he's  a  rotten  poor  mariner. 
When  we  went  fishing  yesterday  he  didn't  make 
sure  that  the  end  of  the  chain  was  attached, 
and  it  ran  out  before  he  could  check  it,  so 
that  we  lost  it  and  the  anchor. " 

He  cocked  his  head  and  appeared  to  listen. 

"Sapristi!  What  is  that?  It  sounds  like  a 
munition  camion  going  over  the  road  to  Verdun 
just  after  it  had  been  badly  shelled." 

From  the  distance  came  just  such  an  uproar 
as  he  had  described  and  which  to  the  veteran 
promptly  suggested  the  battle-field.  There  were 
clangings  and  bangings  and  bumpings  and 
clashings  punctuated  by  staccato  reports.  The 
trio  stared  at  one  another  in  astonishment. 
Dogs  began  to  bark  and  the  shrill  voices  of 
children  rose  in  shouts  of  appreciation. 

The  little  community  was  fairly  populous, 
composed  of  costly  villas  within  grounds  of 
perhaps  several  acres,  most  of  them  rather 
narrow  of  frontage,  but  leading  down  in  various 
lengths  to  the  broken  and  picturesque  shore. 
That  rented  for  the  season  by  the  French 
family  known  to  their  neighbors  as  the  Comte 
and  Comtesse  Stephan  de  Vallignac  was  not 
so  far  back  from  the  avenue,  the  intervening 


52 THE    PEDDLER 

space  a  stretch  of  well-kept  lawn  with  scattered 
ornamental  trees  and  shrubs. 

The  din  augmented,  and  the  rumble  of  the 
heavy  truck  jarred  the  house  so  that  the  win 
dows  rattled  and  the  tea-things  clinked  upon 
the  glass  tray  fitted  to  the  table-top. 

" 'Bon  Dieu!"  cried  Stephan,  springing  to  his 
feet.  "It  makes  me  feel  as  though  I  were  at 
the  front  again." 

"I  rather  like  it,"  said  Leontine,  "and  for 
that  very  reason.  It  reminds  me  of  the  few 
years  in  which  I  was  honest  for  the  sake  of 
humanity  instead  of  dishonest  for  my  own." 

Directly  in  front  of  the  house  the  inferno 
ceased  abruptly.  Moved  by  curiosity,  all  three 
rose  and  went  through  the  house  to  the  front 
veranda  to  ascertain  the  character  of  this  tur 
bulent  juggernaut.  And  as  they  did  so  there 
came  drifting  across  the  lawn  an  ancient 
nursery  rhyme  which  fell  pleasantly  upon  their 
alien  ears: 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironlon-ton-ton,  Mirontaine." 

"It  is  a  Frenchman.  See  the  blue  camion — 
a  nomad." 

Patricia's    sharp    eyes    had    discovered    the 


THE    PEDDLER 53 

miscellany  of  goods  hanging  from  the  side  of 
the  house. 

"A  marchand  ambulant,"  said  she.  "Look, 
Stephan,  here  is  your  anchor  and  chain  brought 
right  to  your  door." 

"Tiens!  But  you  are  right.  That's  not 
bad.  An  enterprising  fellow.  Let's  go  look 
at  this  camion  magasin." 

As  they  walked  down  the  path  they  saw 
that  the  peddler  had  got  down  from  his  seat 
and  appeared  to  be  examining  the  motor.  He 
laid  his  hand  on  the  radiator,  snatched  it  away, 
and  shook  his  head,  stood  for  a  moment  hum 
ming  his  little  air,  then  looked  up  and  down  the 
street,  obviously  in  search  of  the  nearest  water- 
supply.  Stephan,  followed  by  the  two  others, 
went  out  upon  the  sidewalk. 

"Your  motor  is  heating? "  he  asked  in  French. 

The  peddler  turned,  looked  at  him  with  a 
merry  smile,  then  at  the  ladies,  tugged  at  his 
beret,  and  shook  his  head. 

"Comprends  pas,  monsieur,"  said  he. 

"But  you  are  not  French?"  Stephan  asked 
in  English.  "You  were  singing  a  French  song. 
You  have  been  to  the  war?" 

"Not  all  the  way,  sir.  I  was  in  the  transport 
service;  chief  carpenter's  mate." 

"That  is  being  at  the  war,  mon  ami — what 


54 THE    PEDDLER 

with  mines  and  submarines  and  raiders.  I 
see!  The  nursery  song  was  taught  you  by 
some  little  French  girl  in  Brest  or  La  Pallice  or 
St.-Nazaire  or  Bordeaux." 

The  young  man  laughed. 

"I  see  you  know  the  ropes,  sir,"  said  he. 
"Now  it's  all  over,  and  I've  set  up  in  business 
on  my  war  pay.  You  don't  happen  to  need 
anything  for  the  house  or  grounds,  sir — crock 
ery,  cutlery,  lawn-mower,  hose,  sprinklers, 
hammocks,  deck  chairs?  All  high-grade  arti 
cles,  sir,  at  ten  per  cent,  below  store  prices." 

"Yes,"  said  Stephan.  "I  need  an  anchor 
and  a  length  of  chain  for  my  boat." 

"Right-o,  monsieur.    How  big  a  boat?" 

"A  forty-foot  motor-launch." 

"Can  do,  monsieur.  A  seventy -five-pound 
anchor  ought  to  hold  her  most  times." 

He  stepped  to  the  side  of  his  van,  where 
was  suspended  the  article  in  question,  its  stock 
folded  and  lashed  to  the  shank. 

"Yes;  get  down  then,"  said  the  peddler, 
and  a  little  dog  appeared  to  flow  to  the  ground 
in  an  undulatory  way,  then  frisk  joyfully  about. 
He  ran  to  Leontine  and  sniffed  at  her  skirts. 

"Here,  Torp!"  said  the  peddler.  "Behave 
yourself!" 

Several   other   articles   were   added   to   the 


THE    PEDDLER 55 

purchase,  when  the  peddler  shouldered  the 
anchor,  and  with  the  chain  slung  from  the  oth 
er,  a  part  of  it  trailing  behind  him,  followed 
Stephan  to  the  boat-house,  where,  his  offer  to 
rig  it  aboard  being  declined,  he  asked  and  was 
given  permission  to  replenish  his  water-supply, 
which,  however,  did  not  appear  greatly  ex 
hausted. 

"She  heats  pretty  quick,  for  some  reason," 
said  he.  "Can't  be  getting  her  oil  like  she 
ought  to.  This  is  my  regular  route,  sir.  I 
pass  about  every  ten  days,  sometimes  oftener 
when  business  is  brisk,  trying  to  build  up  a, 
clientele  with  the  summer  folks.  If  there's 
anything  you  happen  to  need  in  no  great  hurry 
I'd  be  obliged  if  you'd  hold  your  order.  My 
custom  is  getting  to  be  high  class  now,  mon 
sieur,  all  the  big  houses  in  the  neighborhood 
— the  Ansons,  Brookses,  Raleighs,  Metcalfs, 
Whites,  Parkers,  Kirklands,  Jenkinses.  I've  got 
an  order  now  to  doctor  the  Kirklands'  trees. 
Do  odd  jobs  as  well  as  peddle." 

A  swift  glance  passed  between  the  three. 

"Do  you  sell  often  to  the  Metcalfs?"  said 
Stephan.  "I'm  surprised  that  these  million 
aires  should  patronize  a  peddler,  no  matter  h»w 
excellent  his  wares." 

"Rich  folks  like  to  save  on  a  bill  of  goods. 


56 THE    PEDDLER 

as  much  as  poor,"  said  the  peddler.  "Besides, 
I'm  sort  of  a  privileged  character  from  having 
helped  'em  out  on  a  job  when  they  were  in  a 
hurry.  Mr.  Metcalf  lets  me  park  in  his  meadow 
when  I  pass  that  way." 

"I  suppose,"  said  Stephan,  "you  must  get 
all  the  gossip  of  the  neighborhood." 

The  peddler's  gray  eyes  twinkled. 

"There's  not  much  gets  past  me,  monsieur," 
said  he.  "As  the  great  Doctor  Johnson  defined 
my  trade  'to  peddle,  to  busy  about  trifles — to 
piddle. ' ' '  He  laughed.  ' '  I  try  to  stand  well  with 
the  personnel;  generally  have  a  little  trick  in  my 
pocket  for  the  lady's  maid  or  gardener's  wife." 

"Ah,  my  friend,"  said  Stephan,  "I  fear  you 
will  be  adding  some  other  little  songs  to  your 
repertoire.  Stop  when  you  pass  again.  We 
are  new-comers  and  may  be  in  need  of  some 
thing  else.  Au  revoir  and  bonne  chance." 

The  peddler  answered  politely  and  tugged 
at  his  btret,  then  started  his  motor  and  got 
back  on  his  seat.  He  fired  a  few  parting 
salutes  from  his  exhaust  and  clattered  on  his 
way,  the  little  dog  Torp  paralleling  him  upon 
the  sidewalk,  trotting  in  front,  galloping  behind. 

Now,  just  as  when  he  had  left  the  pair  whom 
he  had  rescued  some  weeks  before,  the  jollity 
faded  from  his  face,  which  grew  strangely  grim 


THE    PEDDLER 57 

and  thoughtful,  and  so  remained  until  his  next 
stop,  which  was  at  the  Country  Club,  where  he 
had  established  good  relations  with  the  steward. 
Here  he  sold  a  few  bags  of  cement,  some  paint, 
two  sickles,  and  a  lantern.  While  chatting  with 
the  steward  he  caught  sight  of  William  Kirkland 
playing  golf  with  Miss  Metcalf ,  and  far  out  across 
the  course  a  girlish  figure,  which,  as  he  looked, 
gave  him  a  friendly  wave. 

The  peddler  made  three  more  stops  before 
arriving  at  the  Metcalf  place  in  the  gloaming. 
He  roared  down  the  lane  and  crossed  a  meadow 
to  the  spot  on  the  edge  of  the  little  brook 
where  he  had  been  given  permission  to  park. 
Here  he  quickly  made  his  preparations  for  the 
night,  went  up  the  ladder  to  the  hurricane- 
deck,  where  he  rigged  short  iron  awning  stanch 
ions,  a  gallows  frame  fore  and  aft  to  support 
the  light  ridgepole  which  held  the  awning  and 
curtains,  triced  down  snugly  on  the  weather 
side.  He  brought  up  a  cot,  two  folding  deck 
chairs — why  two,  oh,  peddler? — a  yacht's  stove, 
mess  and  cooking  gear,  and  the  wherewithal 
to  sup.  '  Presently  the  water  was  boiling,  the 
soup  heating,  and  the  eggs  and  bacon  frying 
merrily.  Torp  meanwhile  occupied  himself 
in  a  muskrat-hunt  along  the  edge  of  the  busy 
little  stream.  He  knew  that  his  own  succulent 


58 THE    PEDDLER 

veal  bones  thickened  with  rice  were  stewing 
somewhere  on  the  roaring  little  blast  stove. 

In  fair  weather  or  foul  the  peddler  was 
always  very  snug.  True,  when  it  rained  the 
floor  of  his  bedroom  required  mopping  after  the 
awning  had  been  rigged,  for  the  height  of  the  van 
made  it  necessary  to  unship  the  stanchions  when 
on  the  road,  lest  they  foul  low  boughs,  wires,  rail 
road  bridges,  and  the  like.  But  its  rigging  was  a 
quick  and  simple  task,  and  no  matter  how  hard 
the  storm  or  how  high  the  wind,  once  up,  the 
place  was  snug  as  the  cabin  of  a  boat,  and  with 
a  lantern  slung  at  either  end  the  peddler  could 
pass  his  evening  reading  or  writing  or  at  any 
minor  job  which  might  be  necessary. 

It  is  surprising  that  more  people  do  not 
avail  themselves  of  modern  invention  thus  to 
pass  a  holiday.  The  noise  of  the  machine 
was  an  avoidable  drawback  in  the  peddler's 
case,  due  to  a  motor  which  had  been  roughly 
treated  at  soldier  hands  and  the  loose  impedi 
menta  clashing  and  clattering  about.  The 
roomy  interior  furnished  ample  living-space, 
but  was  here  stuffed  with  stock,  the  peddler 
inhabiting  only  the  roof.  A  mobile  camp,  with 
the  whole  wide  continent  before  one,  the  ample 
road  furnishing  at  every  mile  no  lack  of  charm 
ing  and  secluded  spots  for  a  brief  sojourn.  No 


THE    PEDDLER 59 

crowded  roadhouses  with  their  bad  service  and 
extortionate  prices,  no  bed  or  table  linen  of 
doubtful  cleanliness,  no  trains  to  catch,  no 
vulgar  eyes  to  pry  or  disagreeable  persons  to 
encounter,  and  the  perfect  independence  of 
such  an  outing  with  its  unrestricted  objective 
leaving  the  wanderer  free  to  stray  at  will. 

On  fine  nights  such  as  this  the  peddler  rigged 
but  one  side  with  curtains,  for  privacy  and  to 
break  the  wind.  Now,  in  this  retired  nook, 
he  left  them  up  on  the  side  of  the  Metcalf 
residence,  of  which  he  could  see  the  lighted 
windows  glowing  through  the  trees,  and,  his 
supper  finished  and  mess-gear  washed  and 
stowed,  he  lighted  his  pipe  and,  flinging  him 
self  back  in  a  folding  deck  chair,  clasped  his 
hands  above  his  head  and  stared  out  across 
the  hazy  meadow  bathed  in  the  mellow  light 
of  the  full  moon,  and  with  a  witch  mist  forming 
in  filmy  fragments  close  to  the  lush  grass. 

And  as  his  eyes  rested  unfocused  on  the  pale 
shimmering  vapor  they  became  suddenly  alert 
at  sight  of  a  moving  figure,  vague  and  diaph 
anous  as  the  mist  itself  and  seeming  to  drift 
out  from  the  lane,  pause  for  a  moment  uncer 
tainly,  then  like  some  ethereal  creature  of  the 
night,  furtive  and  curious,  to  glide  in  the 
direction  of  the  van. 


Chapter  V 

nrO  certain  natures  love  comes  because  of 
•*•  something,  to  others  it  comes  in  spite  of 
everything,  and  to  still  others  it  simply  comes. 
Diana  Kirkland  had  never  been  in  love.  It 
is  probable  that  an  outdoor  girl  of  athletic 
tastes  who  grows  up  with  four  tempestuous 
brothers  gets  a  sort  of  inoculation  against  mas 
culinity;  or  it  may  be  that  where  these  are  of 
manly,  even  though  violent,  type  and  harshly 
critical  of  other  men,  she  becomes  hypercritical 
herself  and  inclined  to  compare  a  would-be 
suitor  to  his  disadvantage  with  her  own  master 
ful  kin. 

Casting  up  the  four  Kirkland  boys  as  a  unit, 
a  very  powerful  personality  would  have  been 
required  to  stand  this  acid  test,  while  a  swain 
of  sentimental  inclination  must  needs  have 
been  ripped  up  like  a  lapdog  tossed  into  the 
Airdale  kennels.  Diana  had  never  had  an 
actual  beau,  had  never  felt  the  need  of  one, 
would  have  greeted  tender  approaches  with 
rather  more  than  scorn,  regarded  an  amorous 
tentative  as  sickening.  She  didn't  object  par 
ticularly  to  a  sort  of  rough  camaraderie  which 


THE    PEDDLER 61 

might  have  shocked  most  girls,  even  to  being 
mauled  about  a  bit  in  a  gust  of  virile  emotion, 
especially  in  a  general  frolic.  But  her  soul 
had  always  shrunk  in  disgust  from  anything 
approaching  a  sentimental  situation,  mawkish 
romance,  a  clandestine  tryst.  If  any  ardent 
admirer  had  begged  her  for  a  favor,  her  glove, 
perchance,  he  might  have  got  it — across  the  ear, 
possibly  with  the  hand  inside,  while  the  irony 
of  her  brothers  would  have  trumpeted  the  death 
of  his  potentialities  as  a  suitor. 

She  frightened  men  off,  was  invisibly  posted 
with  No  Trespass  signs.  Even  as  a  very  young 
girl  she  had  never  been  kissed  without  a  struggle, 
and  the  caress  had  been  paid  for  painfully. 
Like  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  the  more  she  saw 
of  men  the  more  she  esteemed  her  dogs,  while 
her  observations  of  women  led  her  to  a  greater 
toleration  of  cats. 

And  then  the  peddler  had  come,  most  op 
portunely,  to  throw  a  good  half  of  her  prejudices 
in  disarray.  From  the  moment  of  her  fixing 
this  curious  individuality  with  her  violet  eyes 
she  had  been  impressed  with  much  doubt  in 
regard  to  her  previous  findings.  His  face  had 
pleased  her,  not  only  in  feature,  but  through 
some  quality  in  its  respectful  mockery  and  the 
suggestion  of  an  inward  amusement  at  most 


62 THE    PEDDLER 

people  and  things.  She  had  met  philosophers 
before,  but  never  a  laughing  one.  She  liked 
his  massive  physical  proportions  with  their 
singular  lightness  of  motion  and  graceful  co 
ordination.  She  had  intensely  admired  the 
good  humor  with  which  he  had  stood  fast  under 
James's  cutting  admonitions  and  the  peculiar 
quality  which  appeared  to  make  him  impervious 
to  them  without  the  loss  of  dignity. 

Then  had  come  her  rescue  and  that  of  James, 
the  actual  fact  of  which  stirred  her  less  than 
the  swift  nonchalance  with  which  it  had  been 
achieved  and  the  subtle  understanding  displayed 
in  diverting  their  minds  from  the  fearsomeness 
of  their  position.  Diana  reflected  that  ninety- 
nine  men  out  of  one  hundred  would  have  been 
struck  aghast,  gone  about  the  business  in 
nervous  trepidation,  whereas  the  peddler  had 
been  throughout  as  blithe  as  a  squirrel  running 
along  a  limb,  and  imbued  them  with  a  sense 
of  security  from  the  instant  of  his  arrival  on  the 
scene. 

Here,  she  reasoned,  was  a  born  leader,  direc 
tor,  a  master  mind  who  wore  his  domination 
gaily,  unconsciously  as  a  falcon  might  wear 
its  wings.  Their  talk  on  the  cliffs  had  struck 
even  more  deeply,  perhaps,  at  her  rich  emotional 
qualities  hitherto  latent.  She  saw  in  this  ped- 


THE    PEDDLER 63 

dler  far  more  than  a  genial,  witty,  itinerant  pur 
veyor  of  odds  and  ends  and  skilled  artisan 
for  the  adjustment  of  things.  Peddler  he 
might  be,  and  jack-of -all-trades,  but  underneath 
was  the  gallant  gentleman,  and  something 
more  if  there  be  more  than  this — a  soul  which 
was  sweet  and  strong  and  kind. 

Then  pondering  these  things  and  finding 
subconsciously  a  new  and  thrilling  pleasure  in 
so  doing,  potent  forces  were  set  in  motion, 
and  before  she  realized  just  what  had  happened, 
perhaps  without  realizing  it  at  all,  Diana  was 
suddenly  in  love.  She  fell  within  all  three 
classes  previously  indicated — because  of  some 
thing,  in  spite  of  everything,  and  simply  because. 

For  one  may  readily  perceive  that  there  was 
perfectly  good  reason  for  her  failing  in  love; 
also  that  there  was  every  reason  why  a  lady 
of  her  quality  should  not  permit  herself  to  fall 
in  love  with  any  such  nondescript  merchant 
of  the  open  road;  and  that,  one  of  these  neutral 
izing  the  other,  she  simply  did. 

It  is  rather  pleasant  for  a  high-spirited  girl 
to  fall  in  love  and  know  it  and  refuse  to  admit 
it  even  to  herself,  because  of  such  is  true  ro 
mance,  and  everybody  loves  true  romance  in 
spite  of  all  disclaimers.  The  situation  was 
filled  with  improbable  possibilities.  She  might 


64 THE    PEDDLER 

yank  this  peddler  up  to  her  social  station  or 
parachute  thrillingly  to  his.  Perhaps  he  was 
Prince  Charming  disguised  as  a  peddler;  or  a 
Diogenes  in  a  rolling  tub.  Perhaps  he  was  a 
spy,  breaking  ground  for  the  war  of  1930.  Or 
a  sociologist,  or  poet,  or  distinguished  author, 
or  Bolshevik  propagandist,  or  almost  any  of 
many  exciting  things,  besides  a  peddler. 

All  of  this,  as  well  as  the  personal  attraction, 
made  such  powerful  appeal  to  the  unsuspected 
romance  in  Diana's  rich  nature  that  she  went 
about  with  ears  alert  and  heart  that  rattled 
off  like  an  alarm  clock  at  the  distant  clamor 
of  any  old  and  ill-adjusted  car.  Thus,  dining 
at  the  Metcalfs,  who  entertained  largely,  her 
nerve  centers  began  to  fire  sympathetically 
and  with  shocking  inaccuracy  of  aim  so  far  as 
co-ordinate  idea  was  concerned  when  the  ped 
dler's  approach  was  blatantly  heralded  from 
afar,  to  cease  abruptly  in  the  parking-ground 
conferred  upon  him  in  fee  simple  by  the  jovial 
host,  who  found  in  this  eccentric  merchant 
much  to  delight  his  boyish  nature. 

But  these  vague  impulses  in  Diana  began  to 
crystallize  most  indiscreetly  as  the  evening 
wore  on.  By  this  time  she  and  the  peddler 
had  grown  pretty  well  acquainted.  He  had 
done  several  bits  of  skilled  craftsmanship  at 


THE    PEDDLER  65 

Kirkland  Manor,  adjusted  the  twins'  hydro 
plane  and  taxied  it  most  cleverly  round  the 
cove,  wired  the  hangar,  chained  and  shackled 
some  trees,  shown  her  how  to  distinguish  edible 
from  poisonous  mushrooms,  to  the  alarm  of  the 
brethren,  and  always  with  his  quaint  yet 
scholarly  patter.  He  puzzled,  impressed,  and 
fascinated  Diana,  and  he  bore  the  distinction 
of  being  the  only  male  individual  she  could 
thinly  of  who  had  never  suffered  a  rap  from 
some  member  of  the  family — possibly  because 
it  was  so  very  evident  that  he  would  not  have 
cared  a  rap  if  he  had.  In  fact,  the  peddler 
appeared  to  invite  rapping.  But  the  brethren, 
on  their  part,  seemed  to  regard  him  as  one  pos 
sessed  of  some  cosmic  immunity  from  criticism. 
As  strong-bodied  men,  they  had  only  to  watch 
Clamp  to  admit  that  he  was  stronger.  Quick 
of  wit,  they  felt  him  to  be  quicker.  As  good 
mechanics,  they  gave  homage  to  his  superior 
technical  ability.  And  as  canny  folks,  they 
respected  his  shrewd  business  qualities,  with 
which  no  social  intercourse  for  an  instant  inter 
fered. 

The  Metcalfs  took  their  entertaining  lightly, 
providing  all  that  any  reasonable  guest  might 
desire,  and  then  leaving  them  free  to  follow 
their  inclinations,  whether  to  dance,  play  bill- 


66 THE    PEDDLER 

iards,  or  climb  a  tree.  Wherefore  tHana, 
fraught  with  an  irresistible  attraction  located 
in  the  far  corner  of  the  pasture,  so  maneuvered 
as  to  fade  imperceptibly  away  and  merge  into 
the  nocturnal  landscape  with  a  facility  aided 
by  the  lack  of  perspective  which  is  a  well- 
known  quality  of  moonlight  and  the  mimicry 
of  nature  enhanced  by  a  mist-colored  tulle 
evening  gown. 

She  passed  through  the  sunken  garden  with 
its  little  pond  and  cobweb  bridge  to  the  Temple 
d' Amour  in  its  center,  followed  the  straight 
path  between  the  cypresses  to  the  Etruscan 
gate,  crossed  the  road,  flitted  down  it  to  the 
lane  with  its  turf  walls  and  pollards,  where 
one  might  imagine  oneself  in  Brittany,  and, 
reaching  the  entrance  to  the  pasture,  which 
was  open,  hovered  there  a  few  moments  like 
a  big  gray  moth  startled  yet  tempted  to  flutter 
toward  the  flame. 

The  witch  mist  hung  over  the  meadow  bosom 
deep  and  Diana  looked  out  across  it  like  a 
swimmer  in  limpid  water.  In  the  far  corner, 
deeply  shadowed  by  the  white  oaks,  the  body 
of  the  van  was  invisible,  so  that  the  figure  of  the 
peddler  in  his  deck  chair,  with  a  lantern  just 
behind  his  shoulder,  had  the  curious  aspect 
of  being  suspended  on  a  staging  in  midair. 


THE    PEDDLER  67 

Diana  could  see  him  quite  distinctly,  and  so 
vivid  was  the  moonlight  in  which  she  was 
drenched  that  it  vanquished  the  projected  glow 
of  the  lantern,  enabling  the  peddler  to  discover 
her. 

And  so  the  two  watched  each  other  for  a 
moment  across  the  lake  of  mist.  Diana  did 
not  believe  that  she  herself  had  been  discovered, 
and,  realizing  suddenly  that  she  was  doing 
something  rather  more  than  unconventional 
in  paying  this  nocturnal  visit,  with  no  excuse 
or  pretext  which  might  warrant  it,  found  her 
courage  fail  her  for  the  first  time  in  her  arbitrary 
life.  She  decided  to  go  no  farther.  But  some 
thing  stronger  than  propriety  held  her  there, 
and  as  she  lingered  she  saw  the  peddler  reach 
behind  him,  take  the  swinging  lantern  from  its 
hook  and  extinguish  it. 

She  was  about  to  retreat  when  suddenly 
she  found  herself  torpedoed  in  this  sea  of  mist. 
A  long  projectile  beneath  its  surface  was 
launched  against  her,  to  explode  in  squeals  of 
welcome.  Diana  stifled  a  shriek. 

"Torp!"  she  whispered,  .  and  stooped  to 
caress  the  wriggling  body. 

Thus  occupied,  she  did  not  see  the  head  and 
shoulders  of  the  Triton  advancing  toward  her 
through  the  swirls  of  vapor,  and  was  even  more 


68 THE    PEDDLER 

startled  when  a  resonant  voice  said,  calmly, 
"Having  scored  a  hit  with  my  torpedo,  I  shall 
now  inspect  the  potential  destroyer." 

' '  Why  destroyer  ? ' '  asked  Diana.  ' '  And  why 
potential?  What  might  I  possibly  destroy?'* 

"If  Mrs.  Metcalf  were  to  see  you  at  this 
moment,"  said  the  peddler,  "she  would  quickly 
make  that  point  quite  clear." 

"Upon  my  word ! "  said  Diana, with  a  perfectly 
good  affectation  of  surprise.  "Are  you  trying 
to  say  that  I  should  not  have  come  to  tell  you 
that  my  brother  James  wants  you  to  stop 
to-morrow  and  go  over  the  hydroplane  again? 
They  can't  seem  to  keep  it  off  the  water." 

The  peddler  smiled. 

"That  is  the  result  of  my  skilled  adjustment," 
he  answered.  "It  was  no  part  of  my  plan 
that  it  should  leave  the  water  until  your  brothers 
have  learned  a  good  deal  more  about  its  ma 
nipulation.  Water,  Miss  Kirkland,  is  an  in 
elastic  medium,  as  one  is  apt  to  discover  when 
dropped  upon  it  in  a  hydroplane  from  an 
altitude  of  several  hundred  feet.  But  if  you 
value  my  poor  services  do  not  tell  your  brothers 
this." 

"The  more  I  see  of  you,  Mr.  Clamp,"  said 
Diana,  "the  more  I  am  convinced  that  you 
are  a  deus  ex  machina  and  a  sort  of  acting 


THE    PEDDLER 69 

tutelary  deity  watching  over  the  bones  and 
bodies  of  the  crazy  Kirklands." 

"If  Messieurs  David  and  Donald  had  been 
in  the  car  the  day  we  met,  and,  like  their  elder 
brother,  swore  to  eschew  strong  waters  and 
deny  them,  I  never  would  have  taken  the 
presumption  to  limit  their  dimensions,"  said 
the  peddler;  "but,  though  an  experienced  flier 
might  be  no  worse  for  a  glass  or  two,  the  chances 
are  that  the  novice  so  indulging  would  never 
live  to  become  an  experienced  flier.  Appreciat 
ing  this,  I  limited  the  power  of  the  machine  by 
an  ingenious  trick  which  I  do  not  think  they 
can  possibly  discover." 

"Then  what  will  you  do  to-morrow  when  you 
are  asked  to  look  it  over?" 

"Make  sure  that  my  appliance  is  still  in 
perfect  working  order,"  said  the  peddler. 

"Oh  dear — do  you  treat  everybody  as  though 
they  were  about  ten  years  old?" 

"That  is  about  the  average  age  of  the  idler's 
intellect!" 

"Then  you  think  we  are  mere  idlers?" 

"In  time  of  peace.  You  personally  are  not, 
because  you  are  the  nurse  of  four  adult  babies." 

"Make  it  five  while  you're  at  it.  We  seem 
to  have  acquired  a  tutor  now." 

"I  toot  only  when  on  the  route,"  said  the 


TO THE    PEDDLER 

peddler.  "In  the  case  of  your  brothers  it  is 
my  earnest  wish  that  they  may  get  disgusted 
with  their  new  toy  and  scrap  it.  Those  who 
have  come  back  safely  from  the  war  live  in 
great  danger  of  their  lives  because  their  sense 
of  caution  has  become  atrophied." 

"I  think  that  you  are  right.  What  have  you 
been  doing  since  I  saw  you  last?" 

"Chasing  the  nimble  dollar  in  my  motor 
truck.  I  acquired  a  new  client  to-day — the 
Comte  de  Vallignac." 

' '  Really  ?    Did  you  see  the  beautiful  ladies  ? ' ' 

"I  saw  the  beautiful  countess.  I  am  not  so 
sure  about  the  beauty  of  their  guest." 

"Why?" 

"Because  her  beauty  struck  me  as  being 
rather  like  that  of  a  vampire,  not  the  movies 
kind,  but  the  original  article;  and  to  the  phi 
losopher  beauty  should  shine  out  from  within 
like  a  lighthouse  and  not  be  spread  over  the 
surface  like  grease  paint." 

"Isn't  that  pretty  severe  censure  for  a  first 
impression?"  Diana  asked,  secretly  rejoicing 
at  the  fineness  which  prevented  his  inviting 
her  to  visit  his  van,  and  reflecting  how  few  if 
any  of  the  men  of  her  acquaintance  would  first 
have  criticized  her  seeking  them  and  then 
remained  standing  almost  at  attention  and  at 


THE    PEDDLER 71 

the  distance  of  a  yard  or  two  while  talking  to 
her. 

"To  some  extent,"  said  the  peddler.  "I  am 
guided  by  animal  instinct,  not  only  my  own, 
but  that  of  my  little  companion.  Torp  ran 
to  the  countess,  but  he  gave  Miss  Melton  a 
wide  berth.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  she  might 
be  loaded  with  T  N  T— Terribly  Naughty 
Thoughts." 

"How  did  you  learn  her  name?" 

"That  is  part  of  my  business — the  successful 
peddler  should  know  the  names  of  everybody 
on  his  route,  their  financial  standing,  social 
status,  political  and  religious  views,  favorite 
flower,  personal  failings,  family  scandal,  and 
skeleton  within  the  closet.  He  should  retail 
this  judiciously,  dwelling  at  length  upon  their 
magnificence,  their  courage,  their  war  records, 
and,  in  the  case  of  the  ladies,  the  quantity  of 
bandages  rolled." 

"Do  you  think  that  you  have  any  magnif 
icent  people  on  your  route?" 

"Mr.  Metcalf  is  magnificent.  He  presents 
me,  a  poor  peddler,  with  a  parking-place. 
What  sayeth  Aristotle?  'The  magnificent 
man  is  like  a  man  of  skill,  because  he  can  see 
what  is  fitting  and  spend  largely  in  good 
taste.'" 

6 


72 THE    PEDDLER 

"Then  you  don't  like  Miss  Melton,"  said 
Diana. 

"What  am  I  to  like  and  dislike  my  patrons? 
I  should  not  say  this  to  anybody  else,  but  I 
say  it  to  you  because,  having  been  instrumental 
in  saving  your  life,  I  am,  according  to  Chinese 
philosophy,  in  a  measure  responsible  for  its 
welfare."  His  voice,  seldom  without  an  elusive 
note  of  mockery,  seemed  to  lose  this  abruptly, 
to  strike  a  timbre  of  earnestness.  "Please 
have  as  little  to  do  with  Miss  Melton  as  you 
possibly  can.  If  Torp's  instinct  and  mine 
have  any  value,  she  is  bad  medicine,  not  in  the 
physic  but  in  the  psychic  sense." 

"What  about  her  hosts?"  Diana  asked. 

"I  do  not  think  they  are  apt  to  bother  you. 
Please  consider  this  as  confidential. "  He  paused 
for  a  moment,  then  said:  "Very  well.  I  shall 
stop  to-morrow  and  give  your  brothers  some 
bunk  about  their  flying-boat,  for  which  I  shall 
charge  them  a  few  dollars;  and  you  will  be  the 
only  person  to  know  that  this  apparent  fraudu- 
lence  may  be  considered  in  the  light  of  a  fee  for 
longevity." 

This  very  obvious  dismissal  brought  the  blood 
to  Diana's  cheeks  even  while  she  felt  bound 
to  approve  it.  She  knew  that  the  peddler 
was  right,  that  she  should  not  have  come, 


THE    PEDDLER 73 

and  that,  having  come,  albeit  with  a  shallow 
pretext  of  a  message,  she  should  have  delivered 
it  and  returned  forthwith.  Still,  it  was  with  a 
stab  of  vexation  that  she  found  herself  thus 
given  congt.  She,  Diana  Kirkland,  descend 
ant  of  Colonial  governors  and  Constitution 
signers,  whose  family  had  lived  for  generations 
on  the  land,  to  be  sent  trotting  off  by  a  peddler! 
And  as  this  was  passing  in  her  mind  she  found 
her  full  bare  arm  grasped  suddenly,  herself 
drawn  through  the  open  gate  into  the  field. 

"Pardon,"  said  the  peddler,  in  a  low  voice. 
' '  Somebody  is  coming  down  the  lane.  A  groom 
and  housemaid,  I  think.  Walk  back  this  side 
of  the  hedge  and  go  over  the  stile.  Good  night." 

And  he  stepped  into  the  lane  and  moved  off 
to  meet  the  approaching  figures,  humming  his 
little  song: 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-lon,  Mirontaine." 


Chapter  VI 

A  FAMILY  row  was  in  full  cry  at  Kirkland 
'**•  Manor,  the  battle-ground  being  of  course 
the  dining-room. 

Just  why  meal-time  should  be  chosen  for 
family  fights  seems  difficult  to  understand. 
Why  the  dining-room,  to  the  ruin  of  appetite 
and  digestion,  when  the  meal  might  be  finished 
in  peace  and  a  postprandial  fight  started  later 
in  the  billiard-room,  where  there  is  less  to  break, 
and  with  cues  and  balls  conveniently  at  hand? 
The  reason  is  probably  because  at  meal-time, 
when  seated  about  the  table,  the  different 
members  are  obliged  to  stare  at  faces  monoto 
nously  familiar,  and  thus  evoking  animosity. 
But  in  the  case  of  the  Kirklands  the  casus  belli 
was  less  this  psychological  fact  than  a  natural 
inherited  inborn  love  of  strife.  To  these  com 
bative  natures  a  quarrel  at  certain  intervals 
was  a  constitutional  demand,  with  strangers 
where  possible,  with  friends  in  dearth  of  stran 
gers,  and  with  one  another  in  dearth  of  friends. 
Of  course  among  themselves  it  never  reached 
the  point  of  physical  violence,  nor  often  even 
that  of  real  personal  abuse.  In  fact,  it  was 


THE    PEDDLER 75 

principally  noise — they  glared  at  one  another 
and  yelled,  shouted,  growled,  or  snarled,  then 
stopped  suddenly  and  forgot  about  it. 

In  these  unseemly  bickerings  distinct  sides 
were  usually  chosen,  this  partizanship  by  no 
means  a  constant  factor,  but  depending  upon 
the  question  in  hand.  William  was  now  the 
disturbing  element,  and,  as  seldom  happened, 
supported  by  his  elder  brother,  James,  and 
Diana.  This  made  things  fairly  even,  pater 
familias  in  his  quality  of  parent  ranking  two 
votes  and  the  twins  but  one. 

The  old  gentleman's  heavy  artillery  began 
first  to  rumble  while  the  twins  put  down  their 
barrage. 

"  There  is  some  excuse  for  a  man's  making 
a  fool  of  himself  when  he's  drunk,"  said  he, 
"or,  if  he  doesn't  drink,  once  in  a  great  while 
when  he's  sober;  but  the  trouble  with  William 
is  he  always  makes  a  fool  of  himself  when  he's 
drunk  and  at  most  times  when  he's  sober." 

"He's  never  sober  long  enough  to  do  much 
harm,"  said  Donald. 

"Nor  drunk  enough  to  help  any,"  said  David. 
"If  he'd  only  get  good  and  drunk  he'd  be  harm 
less.  Instead  of  that,  he  gets  half-shot  and 
makes  a  mess  of  things  that  he  wouldn't  be  let 
manage  if  he  were  a  little  drunker." 


76 THE    PEDDLER 

"What  do  you  expect  of  a  man  that  lives 
with  a  family  of  nuts  ? ' '  growled  William.  ' '  Be 
sides,  I  needed  the  money." 

"We  all  need  the  money,"  growled  the 
squire.  "What  with  the  taxes  we  have  to  pay 
and  the  handsome  presents  we're  expected  to 
make  to  that  squabbling  European  outfit,  one 
dreads  to  strike  a  balance.  Now  they're  going 
to  cut  off  the  booze  so  that  we  can  deal  them  a 
bigger  handout  of  grub.  We're  all  going  to 
have  our  tongues  hanging  out  pretty  soon. 
When  I  took  stock  last  night  my  hair  stood  on 
end." 

"Which  hair,  dad?"  Diana  asked. 

"All  that  saved  me  from  collapse  was  the 
thought  of  the  consignment  William  told  us 
he  had  bought,  and  now  he's  up  and  sold  it," 
continued  Mr.  Kirkland. 

"Glad  of  it,"  said  James.  "You'll  all  be 
a  lot  better  off,  just  as  I  am.  It's  all  nonsense, 
though.  We  stop  beer-brewing  and  distilling 
and  go  bone  dry  to  feed  hungry  Europe,  while 
those  beggars  over  there  keep  right  on  with 
their  own  and  have  all  the  drink  they  want. 
Why  don't  we  make  them  go  dry  before  starting 
in  to  fatten  them?  Make  them  save  their  own 
blooming  wheat  and  corn  and  barley?" 

"Because  they  wouldn't  do  it,"  said  William. 


THE    PEDDLER 77 

"They'd  rather  have  their  beer  and  wine  than 
our  grub,  and  they're  right." 

"I  like  your  nerve,"  said  Donald.  "You 
say  they're  right  and  then  you  go  and  sell  ten 
thousand  dollars'  worth  of  perfectly  good  fire 
water,  that  we're  counting  on  for  home  con 
sumption  during  the  drought,  and  now  on  the 
eve  of  its  beginning  you  go  and  sell  it  because 
you're  offered  a  fifty  per  cent,  profit." 

"We've  had  a  good  many  lushers  in  the 
family,"  said  David,  "but  never  a  beastly 
miser." 

Diana  was  watching  William's  face  and  she 
noted  that  its  expression  was  less  angry  than 
ashamed,  also  that  it  wore  a  curious  look  as 
though  dreading  to  be  asked  a  leading  question, 
not  as  yet  advanced.  His  transaction  puzzled 
and  worried  her  because  she  knew  that  William 
was  anything  but  avaricious,  and  felt  that 
he  must  have  been  hard  pressed  financially  to 
risk  their  running  a  dry  house.  None  of  the 
Kirklands  were  bargainers  in  a  money  sense 
and  neither  were  they  spendthrifts.  Their 
individual  incomes  were  ample  and  they  had 
always  managed  to  live  well  within  them. 
Here,  she  felt,  was  something  which  needed 
clearing  up  immediately. 

"What  have  you  been  up  to,  William?"  she 


78 THE    PEDDLER 

asked.  "Are  you  cleaned  out  or  have  you 
got  some  sense  at  last?" 

It  was  as  if  one  of  the  pack  had  picked  up  a 
baffling  scent  and  voiced  the  discovery  when 
the  rest  immediately  gave  noisy  tongue.  They 
flung  themselves  upon  William  as  might  their 
Airedales  upon  a  fox  betrayed  by  the  telltale 
squawk  of  a  chicken. 

"Have  you  been  gambling,  sir?"  roared  the 
squire.  "  Or  is  it  a  girl  ? ' ' 

"Let's  see  the  money,"  yelled  the  twins. 

James  looked  anxiously  at  his  brother,  whose 
act  he  had  on  the  whole  approved,  first  because 
he  had  stopped  drinking  himself,  and  second 
because  he  disliked  the  idea  of  turning  the 
place  into  a  charitable  institution  for  the  dis 
pensing  of  alcoholic  beverages  to  improvident 
friends  and  acquaintances.  Besides,  after  the 
first  fortnight  of  gnawing  distress,  which  he  had 
successfully  combated  by  means  of  vigorous 
physical  exercise,  tea,  candy,  and  buttermilk, 
he  was  forced  to  admit  that  he  felt  better  than 
he  had  for  months  and  was  quite  ready  to 
submit  his  brothers  to  the  same  Spartan  dis 
cipline.  It  was  different  in  the  case  of  his 
father,  for  he  really  doubted  that  the  old  gentle 
man  would  long  survive  the  absolute  depriva 
tion  of  the  indulgence  of  a  lifetime. 


THE    PEDDLER  79 

To  his  way  of  thinking,  it  was  no  bad  thing 
for  William  to  sell  the  consignment,  mostly 
spirits,  for  the  sake  of  enforcing  temperance. 
But  for  him  to  sell  it  because  he  was  hard 
pushed  for  money  was  quite  another  matter, 
and  now,  at  sight  of  his  brother's  swarthy  flush 
and  hangdog  manner,  he  felt  a  stab  of  anxiety. 

"Look  here,  William,"  said  he,  "let's  have 
the  right  of  it." 

"'Fess  up,  William,"  urged  Diana. 

"What  have  you  done  with  the  money?" 
Donald  demanded. 

"It's  none  of  your  business,"  William  snarled. 
"I  bought  the  stuff  with  my  own  money  and 
then  something  happened  so  that  I  had  literally 
to  liquidate." 

"Well,  then,"  said  James,  "there's  nothing 
to  do  but  for  you  boys  to  go  on  close  rations 
until  somebody  with  sense  and  courage  breaks 
the  drought.  Dad  of  course  has  carte  blanche. 
Alcohol  is  an  essential  component  of  his  blood 
plasma." 

' '  Rot ! "  growled  Mr.  Kirkland.  "  I  can  stop 
any  time  I  want  to." 

"That  may  be,  dad,"  said  Diana,  "but  you 
can't  want  to  stop  any  time  you  want  to." 

William  rose  to  his  feet,  stared  at  them  for 
a  moment  with  a  sullen  scowl,  then  started 


80 THE    PEDDLER 

for  the  door.  Nobody  offering  to  impede  him, 
he  stopped  half-way  there  of  his  own  accord, 
turned,  and  stared  at  them  with  an  expression 
of  remorse. 

"I'm  damned  sorry,  family,"  said  he.  "I 
have  made  a  fool  of  myself.  I  had  to  settle  a 
debt  of  honor." 

"Cards!"  boomed  Mr.  Kirkland. 

"Yes,  sir." 

The  old  gentleman  sighed. 

"That  happened  to  me  once,"  said  he. 
"Well,  I  suppose  there's  no  help  for  it." 

William  hesitated  for  an  instant,  then  stalked 
out  of  the  room.  Diana  heard  the  rattle  of  his 
stick  as  he  drew  it  from  the  rack.  The  meal 
was  finished,  so  she  got  up,  went  out  into  the 
entrance-hall  and  stood  for  a  moment  irresolute. 
William  was,  if  not  her  favorite — for  the  sister 
played  no  favorites — at  any  rate  her  most 
companionable  brother,  and,  though  they  squab 
bled  a  good  deal,  it  grieved  her  to  think  that  he 
was  in  distress.  The  mere  fact  of  his  going  for 
a  walk,  as  indicated  by  his  taking  his  stick, 
showed  that  there  was  something  serious  which 
he  desired  to  think  over.  Like  many  rich 
Americans,  none  of  the  Kirkland  family  liked 
to  walk.  They  preferred  to  take  their  exercise 
in  some  more  concentrated  or  amusing  form — 


THE    PEDDLER  81 

riding,  tennis,  golf,  swimming;  or  more  pas 
sively  in  tearing  about  the  country  in  a  car. 

Diana  now  felt  a  sisterly  need  of  talking  to 
William.  She  wished  to  win  his  confidence, 
persuade  him  to  accept  her  aid,  less  spiritual 
in  the  form  of  advice  or  sympathy  than  ma 
terial  in  the  form  of  a  check.  But  she  knew 
his  independent  nature  and  that  he  would 
probably  resent  her  intrusion  at  that  moment. 

Nevertheless,  she  decided  to  intrude,  where 
fore,  taking  her  own  hat  and  stick,  she  went 
out  in  time  to  see  his  tall  figure  swinging  round 
the  garage  and  evidently  heading  for  the  lane 
which  led  across  a  point  of  woods  between 
their  own  and  the  Metcalf  estate,  once  a  part 
of  the  Kirkland,  and  sold  for  the  sake  of  old 
family  friendship. 

Kirkland  Manor  was  situated  at  the  head 
of  a  little  bight,  the  house  on  an  eminence  a 
little  back  from  the  shore.  The  estate  included 
a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  of  which  these 
woods  were  a  part.  The  Metcalf  property  was 
adjacent — the  house  perhaps  a  mile  away  and 
directly  on  the  shore.  The  woods  themselves 
were  open,  rather  like  an  English  deer-park  or  a 
French  forest,  Fontainebleau  or  Marly,  and  the 
lane  which  William  had  taken  and  which  led 
from  one  place  to  another  paralleled  the 


82  THE    PEDDLER 

highroad,  which  in  spots  was  not  more  than 
two  or  three  hundred  yards  away.  Formerly 
it  had  been  an  old  right  of  way  for  fisherfolk 
running  from  one  cove  to  that  on  the  other 
side  of  the  little  promontory. 

Diana  guessed  that  William  proposed  to 
treat  his  low  and  nervous  state  of  spirits  by 
a  walk  through  the  shady  woods,  followed 
by  the  consoling  companionship  of  Gwendolyn 
Metcalf,  with  whom  he  was  supposed  to  have 
an  understanding,  though  why  they  were  not 
actually  engaged,  since  there  was  no  reason  to 
prevent,  was  a  little  difficult  to  understand. 
Then  Diana  suddenly  remembered  that  the 
Metcalfs  were  expecting  a  distinguished  guest 
that  day,  the  Marquise  dTrancy,  who  was  to 
visit  them  for  the  month  of  July.  Madame 
d'Irancy  had  already  spent  several  week-ends 
with  the  Metcalfs,  so  that  the  Kirklands  were 
fairly  well  acquainted  with  her.  William  par 
ticularly  was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  pretty 
Frenchwoman,  and  Diana  thought  it  possible 
that  she  might  be  his  objective  rather  than 
Gwendolyn  Metcalf  herself. 

William  was  striding  along  swiftly  for  so 
hot  a  day.  Diana  might  have  called  after  him, 
but  refrained  from  doing  so  because  she  was 
rilled  with  a  shyness  about  her  intrusion.  Like 


THE    PEDDLER  83 

many  families  who  may  at  times  quarrel  vio 
lently  and  in  the  heat  of  anger  say  harsh  things 
to  one  another,  the  Kirklands  had  a  sort  of  un 
written  domestic  code  respecting  the  privacy 
of  one  another's  minds  when  not  actually  meet 
ing  in  the  lists.  They  were  temperamental 
and  sensitive  folks,  especially  Diana,  who  had 
always  disguised  her  feelings  under  the  rough 
exterior  of  a  hoyden.  Her  friends  forgave  her 
tomboyishness  because  they  could  not  very 
well  see  how  a  motherless  girl,  vigorous,  athletic, 
and  high-spirited,  who  lived  in  the  atmosphere 
of  the  Kirkland  men,  could  possibly  be  other 
wise.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  of  them  guessed  at 
the  superfineness  of  Diana's  underlying  sensi 
bilities  and  how  very  little  her  artificial  husk 
actually  protected  them. 

Wherefore  at  this  moment  she  felt  consider 
ably  embarrassed,  and  after  dogging  William 
for  half  a  mile  and  dreading  every  instant  lest 
he  turn  and  see  her,  she  decided  to  postpone 
her  attempt  to  win  his  confidence  and  offer 
her  sisterly  aid.  As  her  afternoon  was  free, 
with  nothing  particularly  amusing  in  view, 
Diana  thought  she  might  as  well  go  to  the  Met- 
calfs'  herself.  For  there  was  almost  always  a 
lively  gathering  to  be  found  at  this  hospitable 
house  with  its  attractive  sons  and  daughters. 


84 THE    PEDDLER 

She  slowed  her  pace  a  little  when  a  turning 
in  the  lane  hid  William  from  her  view,  and 
scarcely  had  he  disappeared  when  she  heard 
through  the  leafy  arcades  the  distant  clash  and 
clatter  and  laboring  of  metal,  which  she  recog 
nized  immediately  as  the  peddler's  truck. 

It  was  coming  from  the  direction  of  the  Met- 
calfs'  and  Diana  came  to  a  sudden  halt,  for, 
though  it  was  about  ten  days  since  the  peddler 
had  stopped  to  go  over  the  hydroplane,  which 
he  had  cunningly  adjusted  in  a  manner  to 
encourage  the  twins  by  an  occasional  rise  from 
the  surface  for  a  few  hundred  yards,  they  were 
far  from  satisfied  with  this,  and  she  knew  that 
they  had  been  impatiently  waiting  for  him  to 
pass  and  would  require  his  services  in  the  effort 
to  get  an  actual  flight. 

But  at  that  moment,  when  still  some  dis 
tance  down  the  road,  the  clamor  suddenly 
ceased  and  Diana  wondered  why.  She  moved 
forward  again  and,  rounding  the  bend  where 
William  had  been  lost  to  view,  she  caught  sight 
of  him  a  long  way  ahead,  and  still  farther  on 
another  figure,  that  of  a  woman  in  a  summer 
gown  which  by  its  unusual  shade  of  framboise 
she  immediately  recognized  as  one  worn  by 
the  Marquise  d'Irancy  on  her  last  visit. 

Diana  drew  quickly  aside,  stepping  behind 


THE    PEDDLER  85 

a  clump  of  hazel-bushes.  She  was  astonished 
and  disturbed,  for  the  marquise  was  the  wife 
of  a  distinguished  French  officer  serving  in 
some  commission  and  at  that  moment  on  duty 
in  New  York.  The  pretty  Frenchwoman  had 
impressed  Diana  as  the  height  of  discretion, 
and  this  meeting  in  the  woods  or  park  had  all 
the  aspect  of  a  rendezvous  between  William 
and  herself.  Anything  of  a  clandestine  char 
acter  was  repugnant  to  Diana,  for,  though 
thoroughly  sophisticated  and  by  no  means 
averse  to  gay  and  noisy  parties,  she  had  a  hatred 
and  contempt  for  sub-rosa  trysts. 

Angry  and  ashamed  at  having  unconsciously 
played  the  spy,  she  struck  off  through  the 
woods  for  the  road  not  far  away,  and  as  she 
stepped  out  upon  it  discovered  the  unwieldy 
structure  of  the  peddler's  van,  perhaps  three 
hundred  yards  away,  hauled  over  to  the  side 
and  bulking  up  at  a  grotesque  angle. 

For  that  reason,  perhaps  because  her  discov 
ery  of  an  apparent  rendezvous  between  William 
and  the  marquise  had  disgusted  her  with 
such,  the  sight  of  the  truck  brought  a  flush  of 
anger  to  Diana's  face,  reminding  her  as  it  did 
of  how  not  long  before  she  had  slipped  off  in 
the  moonlight  with  precisely  the  same  objective 
as  that  which  she  now  censured  in  others. 


86 THE    PEDDLER 

The  peddler's  dismissal  of  her  on  this  occasion 
still  rankled,  despite  her  admission  of  its  sense 
and  delicacy,  and  she  had  not  yet  got  over  the 
stab  of  shame  at  the  recollection  of  her  close 
escape  from  being  discovered  by  the  chauffeur 
and  maid  and  becoming  the  target  of  servants' 
gossip.  Wherefore  she  resolved  not  to  return, 
but  to  keep  on  to  the  Metcalfs',  there  to  spend 
the  afternoon. 

Holding  herself  rather  primly  and  in  the 
intention  of  passing  without  pausing  to  speak, 
she  kept  on  her  way.  But  on  reaching  the 
van  there  was  no  sign  of  the  peddler.  Torp, 
as  usual  in  his  absence,  was  sitting  on  the  seat, 
and  greeted  her  with  whines  of  recognition, 
then  so  far  relaxed  his  discipline  as  to  come 
undulating  down  and  run  up  to  her.  Diana 
stooped  to  pat  his  head,  observing  as  she  did 
so  that  the  peddler  had  augmented  his  equip 
ment  by  a  high-powered  tandem  motor-cycle, 
which  was  slung  from  davits  over  the  stern  of 
the  bus,  a  good  deal  as  a  ship  might  carry  its 
dinghy. 

At  that  moment,  following  the  direction  of 
Torp's  intent  gaze,  Diana  caught  sight  of  the 
man  himself  some  little  distance  in  the  open 
woods,  standing  at  the  foot  of  a  big  tree,  his 
back  to  her,  staring  apparently  at  the  lane, 


THE    PEDDLER 87 

where  in  the  same  instant  Diana  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  framboise  summer  gown  as  it 
disappeared  behind  the  underbrush. 

But  before  she  had  time  to  reflect  on  the 
peculiarity  of  the  situation  another  element 
was  introduced  in  the  approach  of  a  smart 
red  tor- ing-car  coming  rapidly  from  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Metcalfs'.  Diana  recognized  it 
immediately  as  the  de  Vallignacs',  who  in  the 
last  fortnight  had  become  quite  well  acquainted 
with  the  Kirklands,  with  whom  they  had  ex 
changed  visits.  Diana  had  a  peculiar  feeling 
about  these  people,  was  not  quite  sure  about 
them  despite  their  credentials,  and  didn't  like 
them  very  well,  while  their  guest,  Miss  Melton, 
was  positively  antipathetic  to  her.  It  flashed 
through  her  mind  that  they  were  probably  en 
route  to  Kirkland  Manor  for  an  informal  call, 
and,  not  wishing  to  see  them  at  that  moment, 
she  stepped  behind  the  motor-truck.  The  car 
whizzed  past  and  Diana,  more  than  ever  vexed 
with  things  in  general,  waited  for  a  moment 
until  they  had  disappeared,  then  proceeded  to 
the  Metcalfs',  where  she  found  a  little  gathering 
•on  the  terrace. 

"I  came  over  to  see  if  any  of  you  were 
doing  anything  amusing,"  said  she  to  Gwen 
dolyn,  and  nodded  to  Patricia  Melton,  who 


THE    PEDDLER 


had  apparently  been  dropped  there  by  the 
de  Vallignacs. 

"It's  too  hot  for  tennis,"  said  Gwendolyn, 
"and  the  speed  launch  is  hauled  up  for  repairs 
and  the  tide  is  out,  so  we  are  just  going  to  sit 
here  and  buzz.  What  have  you  been  doing, 
Di?  You  look  upset." 

"Having  a  family  fight,  as  usual.  Every 
body's  mad." 

The  talk  became  general.  Diana  studied 
Patricia  covertly.  This  girl  puzzled  her  and 
she  thought  of  what  the  peddler  had  said 
about  her.  There  was  no  question  of  her 
beauty,  and  she  was  very  chic,  with  perfect 
poise,  her  conversation  smooth  and  witty. 
She  was  known  to  have  been  doing  war  work 
in  France  and  Switzerland  and  England,  Allied 
publicity  and  propaganda.  She  had  just  fin 
ished  writing  a  book  on  these  efforts,  her  own 
and  those  of  other  women.  But  the  more 
Diana  studied  her  the  more  she  felt  the  accu 
racy  of  the  peddler's  diagnosis.  There  was 
something  curiously  repellent  to  Diana  in  her 
feesque  beauty,  unusual  face,  and  lithe,  supple 
body.  There  seemed  to  be  some  peculiar 
inhuman  quality  about  her. 

While  they  were  talking  there  came  the  dis 
tant  clanging  and  clamor  of  the  peddler's 


THE    PEDDLER 89 

truck,  now  known  throughout  the  neighbor 
hood  as  the  "tank,"  and  its  noisy  progress 
invariably  mirth-provoking  where  at  first  it 
had  roused  anathema. 

"There  goes  the  tank,"  said  Gwendolyn. 

"He's  on  his  way  to  your  house,  Di;  then 
coming  back  here  to  lift  the  engine  out  of  the 
launch..  You  know  he's  sort  of  a  guest  of  ours." 

"Oh,  we  all  like  Clamp,"  said  one  of  the 
men,  a  Mr.  White.  '''Di  certainly  has  reason 
to,  though  I'm  not  so  sure  about  James.  He 
got  hauled  out  of  his  car  only  to  be  sat  on  top 
the  water-wagon." 

Diana  frowned.  Her  mind  had  been  milling 
over  an  intensely  disagreeable  question.  Why 
was  the  peddler  spying  on  William  and  the 
Marquise  d'Irancy  ? 

"Is  James  going  to  stick  on  his  aqueous 
perch?"  asked  Gerald  Metcalf. 

"Oh  yes!  It's  a  lucky  thing  for  William," 
Diana  answered.  "All  the  rest  were  walking 
over  him  to-day  because  he  went  and  sold 
ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  bottled  trouble 
and  they  only  found  it  out  last  night." 

"Good  Lord!"  said  White.  "And  this  the 
thirtieth  of  June,  and  John  Barleycorn  hanged 
at  midnight.  Whatever  struck  William  to  do 
a  thing  like  that?" 


90 THE    PEDDLER 

"Said  he  was  hard  up,"  Diana  answered, 
indifferently.  ""Been  gambling,  I  imagine. 
Somebody  came  along  and  offered  him  a  fifty 
per  cent,  profit  and  he  fell  for  it.  I'm  glad  of 
it.  This  thing  of  running  a  roadhouse  has  its 
drawbacks," 

"Well,"  said  Gerald,  "you  just  tefl  him  he 
needn't  expect  to  come  over  here  and  cadge 
drinks.  Any  sport  that  sells  booze  at  this 
moment  is  not  entitled  to  the  slightest  sym 
pathy." 

"What  sort  of  a  man  is  this  peddler?" 
Patricia  asked,  in  a  limpid  voice,  "He  stopped 
at  our  house  a  couple  of  weeks  ago  and  sold 
Stephan  an  anchor  for  the  launch.  It  struck  me 
that  he  was  a  gentleman  rather  than  a  peddler." 

"Well,"  said  Metcalf,  "I  suppose  it  is  pos 
sible  to  be  both.  On  my  destroyer  there  were 
two  gobs  and  a  machinist's  mate  whose  ances 
tors  were  Signers  and  Senators  and  founders  of 
exclusive  cluba  Any  one  of  the  three  might 
have  bought  the  boat  for  a  toy." 

"I  knew  a  mule-skinner  of  like  descent'  and 
circumstances/9  said  White. 

"But  that's  war,"  Patricia  protested.;  "It 
is  different  in  civil  life." 

"Not  always.  The  owner  of  one  of  our 
biggest  New  York  hotels,  which  bears  the 


THE    PEDDLER 91 

family  name,  served  an  apprenticeship  in  the 
engine-room  of  that  hostelry.  But  *  peddler' 
is  scarcely  the  word  for  Clamp.  He's  a  peram 
bulating  Admirable  Crichton.  Besides  selling 
things  he's  a  master  mechanic,  landscape  gar 
dener,  tree  expert,  vet,  and  philosopher  withal. 
He'll  do  anything  from  moving  your  house  to 
mending  your  watch,  and  spout  Plato  and 
Epictetus  and  Rochefoucauld  while  doing  it." 

William  came  walking  across  the  lawn  at 
this  moment  and  joined  the  group  on  the 
terrace.  Diana,  .watching  him  closely,  could 
see  that  he  was  disturbed,  though  hiding  it 
under  his  usual  cynical  manner. 

1 '  Hot ! "  said  he.  ' '  Might  I  have  a  gin  bath, 
Gwen?" 

"Yes,  William,"  said  Ggjald,  kindly.  "Your 
last  on  these  premises.  ItLny  man  who  sells 
booze  in  his  possession  on  the  eve  of  such  a 
crisis  in  our  national  history  steps  outside  the 
pale  of  hospitality.  You  may  have  all  that 
you  can  hold  to-day,  and  then  taboo." 

William  shot  an  angry  look  at  his  sister. 

"Go  to  the  devil,  Gerry.  I'm  planning  to 
leave  the  country;  or  if  I  do  have  to  stick  on 
I'll  turn  smuggler  or  moonshiner  or  a  sort  of 
booze  Raffles,  and  ease  some  of  you  misers  of 
your  hoard." 


92  THE    PEDDLER 

"Then  Brother  James  hasn't  converted  you? " 
said  White. 

"James  makes  me  sick.  You'd  think  he 
was  a  yogi  or  some  other  smug  beast.  It's 
a  good  thing  for  James,  though.  When  a  man 
gets  so  he  can't  keep  his  car  out  of  the  tree- 
tops  it  is  time  he  quit.'* 

They  baited  William  for  a  while,  "then  some 
body  asked,  "Where's  the  marquise,  Gwen?" 

"She's  over  in  the  woods,  sketching,"  William 
answered.  "I  met  her  on  my  way  across. 
She  said  she'd  had  a  touch  of  sun  this  morning 
while  playing  tennis  with  you  salamanders. 
Looked  pretty  badly,  I  thought.  I  told  her 
she  ought  to  go  back  and  lie  down,  but  she  said 
that  it  was  cooler  in  the  woods  and  it  rested 
her  to  paint." 

Patricia  rose. 

"I  think  I'll  go  join  her  if  you'll  put  me  on 
the  path,"  said  she  to  William. 

He  rose  and  they  went  down  the  steps  to 
gether. 

"William  looks  bad,"  said  Gerald.  "Not 
surprising,  though.  Almost  any  chap  can  tune 
up  from  peace  to  war  without  breaking  his  G 
string,  but  it  takes  an  iron  constitution  to 
make  the  jump  from  war  to  peace." 

"What's  the  marquise  done  with  her  big 


THE    PEDDLER  93 

rock — the  Sultana?"  White  asked.  "Hope  she 
doesn't  carry  it  about  with  her?  And  why  all 
that  heavy  barbaric  jewelry?" 

' '  I  don '  t  know, ' '  Gwendolyn  answered.  ' '  She 
seems  to  have  a  passion  for  the  stuff.  French 
women  are  always  so  exquisite  about  their 
jewels,  and  the  settings  and  workmanship  are 
usually  so  dainty.  One  day  she'll  wear  that 
great  heavy  Russian-enamel  chain  and  pendant ; 
and  the  next  a  bracelet  with  a  huge  watch,  or  an 
anklet,  or  a  ball-and-chain  effect  with  some 
sort  of  a  hideous  big  knob  studded  with  brill 
iants." 

"That  belt  she  wore  playing  tennis  would 
have  made  a  good  collar  for  a  prize  mastiff," 
said  Gerald.  "William's  lost  his  job.  Here 
he  comes  back." 


Chapter  VII 

T  OOKING  decidedly  haggard,  William  came 
*^  up  the  terrace  steps,  eased  himself  into  a 
wicker  chair  as  though  afraid  his  knees  might 
suddenly  buckle  and  let  him  down  on  the  run, 
then  reached  for  the  potent  John  Collins,  a 
first  cousin  of  Barleycorn,  and  gulped  it  avidly. 

"Little  shaky,  old  man?"  asked  Gerald, 
sympathetically. 

"Brittle  as  spun  glass.  Don't  know  whether 
it's  the  heat  or  rum  or  getting  hammered  by  all 
the  family.  One  of  the  Airedale  pups  bit  me 
the  other  day." 

"Did  it  poison  him?" 

"He's  weathered  it  so  far.  Perhaps  I'm 
getting  hydrophobia." 

"You  always  had  that,  William.  Let's  call 
it  shell  shock." 

"That's  possible.  I  assisted  at  services  for 
the  peace  of  John  Barleycorn's  soul  last  night, 
and  we  fired  a  few  volleys  of  champagne  corks 
over  the  grave." 

"Little  premature,  weren't  you?  That  func 
tion  comes  off  to-night.  Nice  country  this. 


THE    PEDDLER 95 

All  the 'sports  go  over  to  fight  for  it,  and  while 
we're  absent  they  slip  this  over  on  us." 

"I'm  going  back  to  France,"  said  William. 
"It's  only  a  question  of  time  before  I  get 
jugged  over  here.  They  make  their  laws  so 
fast  I  can't  keep  hep  to  them.  Besides,  I 
haven't  got  the  kale  to  run  round  with  you 
spenders." 

"I  fear,  William,"  said  White,  "that  you 
have  been  loitering  about  the  street  called 
Wall.  Better  get  back  on  the  Omar  platform." 

"Yes,"  said  William,  bitterly.  "A  loaf  of 
bread,  a  jug  of  root  beer,  and  thou  beside  me 
knitting  in  the  wilderness.  Merci,  monsieur." 

The  desultory  talk  went  on  in  the  lazy, 
purposeless  way  peculiar  to  such  coteries  on  a 
hot  midsummer  afternoon,  the  girls  who  had 
formed  the  war  habit  actually  accomplishing 
something  with  needlework  or  knitting,  the 
men  making  listless  efforts  to  be  amusing, 
smoking  innumerable  cigarettes,  but  only  in 
the  case  of  William  drinking  to  any  extent,  if 
at  all.  An  hour  passed.  From  where  they  sat 
on  the  terrace  the  road  was  visible  across  a 
splendid  sweep  of  lawn,  and  in  the  middle  of  the 
afternoon  the  de  Vallignacs'  red  car  passed 
but  did  not  stop,  as  Patricia,  a  friend  of  the 
Marquise  d'Irancy,  had  been  asked  to  spend 


£5 THE    PEDDLER 

the  night,  when  there  was  to  be  an  informal 
dance. 

Several  minutes  after  the  passing  of  the 
de  Vallignacs'  car  there  came  the  staccato 
reports  of  a  motor-cycle  which  whizzed  past, 
and  even  at  that  distance  they  had  no  diffi 
culty  in  identifying  its  blue-clad  rider  as  the 
peddler. 

"There  goes  Clamp,"  said  Gerald.  "He's 
got  another  and  equally  silent  means  of  loco 
motion.  I  wonder  where  he's  off  to.  He's 
due  to  come  here  this  afternoon  and  lif t  out  the 
motor  of  the  launch." 

"The  twins  have  got  him  at  work  on  their 
new  toy,"  said  William.  "He's  probably  run 
ning  into  town  after  some  tool  he  hasn't  got." 

"Can't  imagine  such  a  thing.  I'll  take  you 
on  for  tennis,  William.  Try  out  some  of  your 
fusel  oil." 

William  agreed  to  this,  and  a  little  later, 
while  the  others  were  at  tea,  the  peddler  re 
turned  again.  The  set  was  finished  and  the 
afternoon  well  gone  when  they  heard  the 
clamor  of  the  van,  which  turned  into  its  cus 
tomary  parking-place,  and  shortly  afterward 
there  came  from  a  path  hidden  by  the  shrubbery 
the  lilt  of  a  little  song  by  which  they  were  all 
by  this  time  familiar: 


THE    PEDDLER 97 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-ton,  Mirontaine" 

"There  he  goes  now/*  said  Gerald.  "I 
want  to  speak  to  him." 

"Call  him  over,"  said  Gwendolyn.  "I  like 
to  hear  him  talk." 

Gerald  raised  his  voice.     "I  say,  Clamp!" 

"Here,  sir,"  came  the  cheerful  answer,  and 
the  peddler  pushed  through  the  foliage. 

He  was  in  his  usual  immaculate  blue  denim, 
the  btret  set  as  worn  by  the  Breton  fishermen, 
and  with  his  singular  characteristic  assurance, 
which  carried  no  hint  of  familiarity,  walked  to 
the  foot  of  the  steps,  came  to  attention,  and 
saluted.  Diana  thought  she  saw  a  twinkle  of 
amusement  in  his  eyes  as  they  rested  for  an 
instant  on  her  rigid  face,  and  her  anger  rose. 
Could  it  be  possible  that,  after  all,  the  man  was 
a  sneak  and  a  spy?  He  had  told  her  that  in 
his  quality  of  peddler  he  retailed  the  gossip 
of  the  neighborhood,  but  she  would  never  have 
suspected  him  capable  of  collecting  it  in  any 
such  contemptible  manner  as  she  had  witnessed 
not  long  before.  He  stood  now,  a  striking 
figure,  principally  remarkable  for  its  great 
breadth  of  shoulders. 

"You're  not  going  to  have  time  to  get  that 
motor  out  before  dark,  Clamp,"  said  Gerald. 


98 THE    PEDDLER 

The  peddler  glanced  over  his  shoulder  at 
the  sun,  which  was  already  low,  then  turned  to 
Gerald. 

"Sir,"  said  he,  "I  have  been  unavoidably 
delayed.  The  Messieurs  Kirkland's  hydro 
plane  taxed  my  talents  close  to  their  frontier. 
As  Lowell  aptly  says,  'No  science,  peddling 
with  the  name  of  things,  can  lift  our  life  with 
wings,  far  from  life's  idle  gulf.'  Nevertheless, 
sir,  that  engine  will  be  out  and  on  the  staging 
before  yon  declining  orb  kisses  the  lip  of  the 
distant  hills." 

"I'd  like  to  make  you  a  bet  that  it's  not," 
said  Metcalf. 

"Honor  forbids  me  to  bet  on  a  certainty,  sir, 
otherwise  I  would  suggest  that  if  I  fail  I  would 
present  you  with  the  excellent  newly  patented 
device  which  I  have  bought  for  the  purpose 
and  which  no  motor  boatman  should  be  with 
out,  while  if  I  succeed  you  may  purchase  it 
from  me  at  ten  per  cent,  less  than  the  catalogue 
price." 

"You're  on,"  said  Metcalf.  "We  will  waive 
the  ethical  question,  as  I  admit  to  having  bet 
on  pretty  sure  things  myself." 

"What's  the  stunt?"  William  asked,  lan 
guidly. 

"The    Baby-Atlas    Extension    Shears,    sir; 


THE    PEDDLER 99 

and  it  can  be  set  up  in  any  boat.  It  bears  the 
same  relation  to  the  usual  clumsy  shears  as 
the  Samson  Stump-puller  which  I  sold  to  Mr. 
James  might  bear  to  the  ordinary  windlass. 
With  a  specially  geared  purchase  one  could 
lift  bed-plates,  keel  and  all,  if  absent-mindedly 
overlooking  to  free  the  bolts," 

"I  see  where  you  are  stung,  Gerry,"  ^aid 
William. 

"Call  it,  rather,  *  tickled/  sir,**  said  the  ped 
dler,  "which  you  are  sure  to  be  on  seeing  the 
Baby -Atlas  Shears  in  operation/'  He  glanced 
significently  at  the  sun.  "This  terrace  may 
then  be  considered  as  the  judge's  stand  for  my 
race  with  the  King  of  Day  against  the  law  of 
gravity." 

"Right-o!"  said  Gerry.  "Didn't  mean  to 
crimp  off  a  minute  or  two.  Well  be  down 
pretty  soon  to  watch  the  running." 

The  peddler  saluted,  turned  on  his  heel,  and 
made  for  the  path,  humming  his  little  tune, 
and  as  he  strode  away  toward  the  boat-house 
the  group  on  the  terrace  took  it  up.  In  that 
neighborhood  the  ancient  nursery  ditty  threat 
ened  to  become  a  popular  song. 

The  sporadic  conversation  was  resumed,  and 
when  half  an  hour  had  passed  Gerald  suggested 
that  they  all  go  down  to  the  boat-house  to  watch 


ioo  THE    PEDDLER 

the  peddler's  operations.  But  at  this  moment 
a  smart  runabout  car  whisked  up  the  drive 
and  stopped  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  directly 
opposite,  when  an  immaculately  dressed  young 
man  got  down  and  mounted  the  steps  in  the 
bustling,  important  way  of  a  small  personality 
over-distended  with  momentous  news.  This 
was  one  Mr.  Parker,  who  was  the  accredited 
Mercury  of  the  community,  the  messenger  of 
these  Olympians. 

"Well,  buddy,  what's  the  news?"  asked 
William,  lazily.  "  Better  ease  it  out  before 
you  bust." 

Mr.  Parker  mounted  deliberately  and  made 
his  salutations. 

"Cough  it  up,  ducky,"  said  Gerald.  "Get 
it  out  of  your  system  before  you  have  a  stroke." 

"Rather  than  be  forced  to  listen  to  your 
labored  witticisms,"  said  Mr.  Parker,  "I  may 
as  well  tell  you  that  there  are  burglars  in  the 
park." 

"Whose  park?" 

"The  Stackpoles'  safe  has  been  looted. 
Money,  jewels,  gold  after-dinner  coffee-set, 
and  that  sort  of  stuff." 

"Well,"  said  William,  "I  suppose  an  honest 
thief  must  live.  When  was  the  job  pulled 
off?" 


THE    PEDDLER 101 

' '  They  don't  know,  William.  The  safe  hadn't 
been  opened  for  a  week,  until  old  Steve  went 
to  get  something  this  morning.  But" — he 
winked  at  the  others — "they  are  inclined  to 
think  that  it  was  the  night  you  stopped 
there." 

"William  just  admitted  being  hard  up," 
said  Gerald,  pensively. 

"Let's  see,"  said  William;  "that  was  the 
night  of  the  thunder-storm." 

"Another  suspicious  circumstance,"  said 
White,  judicially.  "The  women  would  have 
their  heads  buried  under  the  pillows,  and 
while  Jupiter  Tonans  was  banging  off  his 
Archie  guns  nobody  could  hear  the  gentleman 
cracksman  at  his  work.  What  did  the  clean-up 
amount  to,  buddy?" 

"About  fifty  thousand,  they  think." 

"A  tidy  little  sum  to  keep  in  the  family  bas 
de  laine,"  said  Gerald.  "Have  they  issued 
any  warrants  yet  for  William's  arrest?" 

"I  say,"  said  Parker,  "it's  not  so  funny  as 
you  witty  humorists  seem  to  think.  You 
can  have  scads  of  money  and  get  more  where 
it  came  from,  but  you  can't  replace  old  family 
jewels." 

Gwendolyn  turned  to  Diana. 

"Listen  and  take  heed,  Di,"  said  she.    "You 


102 THE    PEDDLER 

had  better  put  your  mother's  beautiful  things 
in  safe  deposit  instead  of  leaving  them  in  that 
antiquated  tin  box  of  yours." 

"No  fear  of  a  burglar  sticking  his  head  in 
our  madhouse,"  said  Diana.  "The  boys  are 
prowling  round  at  every  hour  and  the  dogs 
are  loose  at  night,  the  whole  pack  of  them. 
They  are  real  police  dogs,  too.  The  twins 
have  taught  them  not  to  touch  anything  that 
might  be  poisonous." 

"Too  bad  they  can't  teach  William  that," 
said  Gerald.  "How  do  you  go  about  it?  For 
the  kennel  pups,  I  mean." 

"Dose  some  pieces  of  meat  with  a  strong 
emetic  and  leave  them  lying  round." 

"I  did  that  once  for  one  of  the  club  boys," 
said  William.  "Then  I  forgot  and  drank  it 
myself." 

"Well,"  said  Gerald,  "that's  different.  Dogs 
are  intelligent  animals  and  once  is  usually 
enough.  A  dog  will  try  anything  once,  like 
a  toad  or  a  skunk;  but  not  twice." 

"I've  heard,"  said  White,  "that  a  thief  dis 
likes  to  enter  a  house  where  there  are  children 
or  a  sick  person  or  inmates  of  irregular  habits, 
so  William  is  really  sort  of  a  burglar-proof 
device.  He  was  at  our  house  the  other  night 
during  a  thunder-storm,  too.  So  was  Miss 


THE    PEDDLER  103 

Melton.  I  think  I  had  better  go  back  and 
overhaul  the  safe." 

William  rose  with  a  heavily  bored  expression., 

"As  Parker  truthfully  remarks,  your  wit- 
is  wearisome,"  said  he.  "Come  on,  Di,  let's1 
be  getting  back." 

"Di  is  to  stay  for  dinner  and  the  dance," 
said  Gwendolyn,  "and  you're  to  tell  Katie  to 
send  over  her  party  clothes." 

"Never  mind,"  said  Diana.     "I'll  telephone." 

"Run  me  over  to  the  house,  Parker,  there's 
a  good  chap,"  said  William. 

"Always  cadging  a  ride  or  a  drink  or  some 
thing,"  grumbled  Parker.  "Why  don't  you 
burn  some  gas  of  your  own  once  in  a  way?" 

"I'm  forced  to  economize.  What's  the  use, 
anyway,  when  there  are  so  many  idle  people 
going  over  the  road?  Come  on,  I'll  make  you 
a  real  drink." 

"Thanks,  but  I'm  like  the  country  and  my 
dairy  farm — going  dry.  All  right,  get  aboard,. 

Mister  Raffles.? 
8 


Chapter  VIII 

HTHE  Metcalf  dance  proved  actually  to  be 
•*•  anything  but  the  informal  affair  announced, 
being,  rather,  one  of  those  fairyland  functions 
only  possible  in  midsummer  or  a  tropic  clime, 
partly  indoors,  partly  out,  untainted  by  vitiated 
air  and  with  the  changeful  effects  of  brilliantly 
light  salons,  a  terrace  hung  with  colored 
lampions,  and  beyond  their  zone  the  soft  mid 
summer  starlight. 

There  was  a  small  but  carefully  selected 
orchestra,  and  its  music  filtered  out  upon  the 
terrace  in  attenuated  strains,  to  mingle  at  its 
farther  end  with  the  tinkle  of  the  waves  on  the 
beach  below  and  to  dissolve  in  the  soft  high 
breeze  as  it  murmured  through  the  tree-tops. 

At  such  a  dance  the  spirits  are  higher,  less 
hectic,  the  women  more  beautiful,  complexions 
less  flushed  and  congested.  Its  gaiety  is  more 
sweet  and  sane  because  it  is  more  healthful. 
Diana  Kirkland  did  not  care  much  for  winter 
dances  in  town  because  deprived  of  her  habitual 
need  of  unlimited  fresh  air.  But  she  liked  to 
dance,  and  her  spirits  this  night  would  have 
been  buoyant  except  for  this  one  thing  which 


THE-PEDDLER 105 

persistently  oppressed  them — the  disagreeable 
recollection  of  the  peddler  spying  on  William 
and  the  Marquise  d'Irancy. 

But  was  he  actually  spying  on  them  both 
or  on  the  Marquise  d'Irancy  alone?  Turning 
the  incident  in  her  mind,  Diana  doubted  that 
when  he  stopped  his  truck  and  slipped  into 
the  woods  he  could  have  seen  William  at  all. 
She  remembered  that  while  standing  beside 
the  big  van  that  part  of  the  woods  between 
the  road  and  the  spot  in  the  lane  where  William 
had  been  was  heavy  with  undergrowth.  She 
herself  had  not  been  able  to  see  William  from 
beside  the  van,  nor  did  she  think  the  peddler 
could  have  done  so  even  from  his  seat,  as  a 
growth  of  young  conifers  must  have  screened 
him.  On  the  other  hand,  one  could  scarcely 
have  failed  to  see  the  marquise  in  her  bright 
gown,  though  at  such  a  distance  that  any  one 
unfamiliar  with  her  wardrobe  could  scarcely 
have  identified  her. 

But  even  supposing  that  the  peddler  had 
happened  to  see  her  in  that  same  gown  on  a 
previous  visit,  what  possible  interest  could  this 
distinguished  French  lady  have  had  for  him? 
What  could  his  motive  have  been?  Why  stop 
his  truck  and  slip  into  the  woods  to  spy  upon 
her? 


106  THE    PEDDLER 

Turning  the  matter  deliberately  in  her  mind, 
another  idea  suggested  itself  to  Diana:  Could 
it  have  been  that  the  peddler  had  mistaken 
the  marquise  for  her  returning  from  luncheon 
at  the  Metcalfs'  to  Kirkland  Manor  and  pos 
sibly  have  wanted  to  speak  with  her  for  some 
reason?  And  if  so,  what  could  that  reason 
have  been?  She  knew  he  would  never  have 
taken  any  such  action  without  a  very  definite 
purpose,  and  her  vain  speculation  as  to  such 
distracted  her  mind  and  interfered  with  her 
pleasure  in  the  dance. 

As  the  evening  wore  on  she  found  herself 
growing  more  and  more  distrait  and  most  un 
pleasantly  oppressed  by  a  sense  of  impending 
ill,  a  vague  presentiment  that  something  ugly 
was  soon  about  to  happen.  And  presently  it 
did. 

For  all  at  once  when  the  gaiety  was  at  its 
height  a  shadow  seemed  to  fall,  the  joyous 
revelry  to  be  quenched  in  some  subtle  and 
mysterious  way.  Nobody  appeared  to  know 
precisely  what  had  happened  beyond  the  fact 
that  it  concerned  the  Marquise  dTrancy,  who 
had  been  taken  suddenly  ill  while  on  the  terrace 
and  was  seen  by  some  few  being  led  away  in 
what  appeared  to  be  a  semi-swooning  condition 
by  Gwendolyn  and  her  younger  sister.  There 


THE    PEDDLER  107 

were  two  physicians  among  the  guests,  yet  the 
services  of  neither  had  been  requested. 

Questions  remained  unanswered  when  Gwen 
dolyn  did  not  reappear.  No  announcement 
was  made.  Miss  Melton  also  had  disappeared. 
She  had  been  very  much  in  evidence  through 
out  the  evening  and  it  was  now  whispered 
that  she  was  with  Madame  d'Irancy.  None 
of  the  guests  ventured  any  opinion  or  asked 
any  questions  of  Mr.  Metcalf,  who  appeared 
to  be  making  a  rather  nervous  effort  at  jollity; 
and  though  the  music  continued  in  full  swing 
and  the  dancing  went  on,  it  was  fitful,  the 
gaiety  perfunctory  and  lacking  in  its  spon 
taneity. 

As  Gwendolyn's  oldest  and  most  intimate 
friend,  Diana  felt  that  she  had  the  right  to 
make  some  inquiry,  yet  refrained  from  doing 
so.  Then  presently  Gerald  Metcalf  appeared, 
his  handsome  face  wearing  a  strained  expression 
which  he  tried  vainly  to  conceal,  and,  drawing 
Diana  away,  whispered  to  her  to  pass  through 
the  rear  of  the  house  and  go  to  the  Temple 
d'Amour  in  the  sunken  garden,  where  Gwen 
was  waiting  to  speak  to  her. 

Diana,  very  much  upset,  followed  directions, 
and  as  she  crossed  the  little  bridge  she  saw  a 
white  figure  huddled  on  the  stone  bench  inside. 


io8  THE    PEDDLER 

"Gwen  dear!"  she  gasped.  "What  dread 
ful  thing  has  happened?" 

Gwendolyn  checked  her  dry  sobs. 

"Oh,  Di  dear—" 

Diana's  heart  seemed  to  freeze. 

"Is  she — is  she — is  she — " 

She  stopped,  realizing  her  unspoken  question 
to  be  a  foolish  one.  If  anything  really  serious 
had  happened  to  the  marquise,  the  festivities 
would  of  course  have  been  stopped  immediately 
and  the  guests  dispersed. 

"What  is  it,  Gwen?"  she  asked,  desperately. 

' '  The  Sultana ! ' '  gasped  Gwen.  ' '  That  great 
blue  diamond  of  hers.  It  has  disappeared — 
been  stolen." 

"When?"  asked  Diana,  for  the  moment 
infinitely  relieved. 

"She  does  not  know.  Some  time  since 
luncheon.  She  discovered  it  only  a  few  mo 
ments  ago  on  the  terrace." 

"But  was  she  wearing  it?"  Diana  demanded. 

"Yes.  You  know  we  were  speaking  this 
'afternoon  about  her  odd  jewelry — her  big 
wrist  watch  and  anklet  and  that  belt  which 
Gerry  said  would  make  a  good  collar  for  a 
mastiff?  Well,  she  had  those  things  specially 
designed  to  carry  the  Sultana.  Since  she  got 
it  back  it  has_  never  left  her  person  day  or 


THE    PEDDLER  109 

night.  Sometimes  she  carried  it  in  the  locket 
on  the  chain,  and  sometimes  in  the  wrist 
watch  or  anklet  or  belt.  She  did  not  believe 
that  anybody  knew  of  its .  being  on  her 
person." 

"Did  one  of  the  lockets  come  open?"  Diana 
asked. 

"No — that's  the  amazing  part  of  it;  the 
lid  has  a  stiff  spring  and  latch,  and  clicks  shut 
of  itself.  She  put  the  Sultana  in  the  belt  this 
morning  when  she  dressed  for  tennis,  and  when 
she  changed  for  luncheon  she  took  it  out  and 
put  it  in  the  locket  on  the  chain  which  she 
wore  this  afternoon  and  evening." 

"It's  her  own  silly  fault,"  said  Diana,  hotly. 
"No  woman  has  any  right  to  lug  a  great  gem 
like  that  round  with  her,  especially  when  visit 
ing.  It's  not  fair  to  one's  host." 

"Oh,  I  know  it!  She  says  so  herself.  She's 
perfectly  lovely  about  it,  but  naturally  sick 
from  the  loss.  She  doesn't  accuse  anybody, 
though  you  can  see  when  you  examine  the 
locket  that  it  couldn't  possibly  have  come 
open.  She  says  that  the  diamond  fascinates 
her,  and  though  she  scarcely  ever  wears  it 
openly  she  takes  it  out  a  good  many  times  a 
day,  when  alone,  and  looks  at  it.  That's  how 
she  discovered  that  it  was  gone.  She  was 


no  THE    PEDDLER 

playing  with  the  locket  and  noticed  all  at  once 
that  it  was  curiously  light." 

"So  she  opened  it?" 

"Yes.  When  she  saw  that  it  was  empty  she 
nearly  fainted." 

"But  how  could  anybody  have  got  it  with 
out  her  knowing  it,  even  supposing  that  any 
body  knew  where  it  was?" 

*'We  can't  imagine.  She  says  that  it  was 
never  out  of  her  sight  when  dressing.  But 
it's  gone,  and  it  has  been  stolen  here  on  our 
place.  What  in  the  world  shall  we  do?" 

"There's  nothing  that  you  can  do."  Diana's 
voice  was  almost  angry.  "As  I  understand  it, 
that  diamond  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  in 
the  world  on  account  of  its  unusual  color  and 
purity.  You  can't  very  well  present  her  with 
the  whole  of  your  estate  and  make  over  your 
income  to  her.  Oh,  how  can  a  woman  be  such 
a  selfish  fool?" 

"I'm  sure  she's  holding  something  back," 
said  Gwen.  "She  asked  to  be  left  alone.  She 
says  she  wants  to  think.  We're  all  nearly 
crazy,  Di.  We  don't  know  what  to  say  or  do. 
We  can't  very  well  order  a  search  of  our  guests, 
and,  besides,  the  marquise  made  us  promise 
not  to  tell  anybody  but  you." 

She  shot   Diana  a  curious  sidelong  glance 


THE    PEDDLER  in 

which  was  intercepted — and  suddenly  it  seemed 
to  the  girl  as  though  her  heart  had  stopped. 
Up  to  this  moment  she  had  not  thought  of 
William  in  connection  with  the  ugly  affair. 
But  now  as  she  caught  Gwen's  look  so  fraught 
with  meaning  it  was  as  though  a  series  of  mov 
ing  pictures  had  flashed  on  a  screen  before  her 
eyes.  She  seemed  to  see  the  meeting  in  the 
lane,  the  two  sitting  alone  there  in  the  woods 
on  a  stone  or  fallen  log — and  William's  strained, 
nervous  face  as  he  joined  them  on  the  terrace 
and  asked  for  a  strong  drink. 

With  a  tremendous  effort  she  kept  her  self- 
control. 

"I  see  what  you  mean,  Gwen.  William  was 
alone  with  her  in  the  woods  this  afternoon. 
But  why  should  she  possibly  suspect  William — 
unless  she  showed  him  the  diamond  ?  Did  she  ? ' ' 

"I  don't  know,  Di,"  Gwen  answered,  miser 
ably.  "She  did  not  tell  me  anything.  Of 
course  she  would  never  have  dared  make  any 
insinuation  about  William  to  me,  as  she  knows 
that  we  are  the  next  thing  to  engaged  and  that 
the  only  thing  that  stands  between  us  is  Will 
iam's  habits.  I  made  rather  a  confidante  of 
her  one  day.  But  that  Melton  girl  was  alone 
with  her,  too,  and  she  is  clever  enough  to  have 
guessed  that  the  marquise  might  have  been 


ii2 THE    PEDDLER 

carrying  the  Sultana  in  one  of  those  big  clumsy 
lockets." 

"Where  is  she  now — the  Melton  girl?" 

"She  was  with  the  marquise,  but  came  down 
with  me.  I  asked  her  to  go  on  dancing.  The 
marquise  did  not  tell  her  that  she  had  lost  the 
Sultana.  She  thought  or  pretended  to  think 
that  she  was  taken  ill.  What  none  of  us  can 
understand  is  how  anybody  could  possibly  have 
opened  the  locket  while  the  marquise  was 
wearing  it.  I  must  go  back  now.  We  are 
all  in  a  most  dreadful  state.  We  don't  know 
what  we  ought  to  do." 

"I  don't  think  that  there  is  anything  to  do 
at  this  moment,"  said  Diana,  slowly.  "One 
thing  is  certain,  though." 

"What?" 

"That  Melton  girl  has  stolen  the  diamond." 

"But,  Di,  how  could  she?  I  tried  to  open 
the  locket  myself  and  couldn't  manage  it,  the 
catch  is  so  stiff.  The  marquise  says  that  she 
has  to  press  it  against  something  hard  while 
she  tugs  at  the  lid.  It  was  made  that  way 
expressly.  I  must  go  back." 

' '  Very  well, ' '  said  Diana.  "  I'll  come  in  a  few 
moments.  And  Gwen — I  think  I'd  better  go 
home.  William  ought  to  know  about  this 
immediately." 


THE    PEDDLER  113 

Gwen  nodded  and  hurried  off.  For  several 
moments  Diana  sat  deep  in  thought.  Her 
clear  head  showed  her  immediately  that  so 
far  as  William  was  concerned  the  clou  of  the 
wretched  business  depended  on  what  had 
passed  between  the  marquise  and  him.  Diana 
could  form  no  estimate  of  the  Frenchwoman's 
actual  character,  but  she  knew  that  of  her 
brother,  and  she  did  not  believe  that,  even  had 
opportunity  offered,  he  would  have  availed 
himself  of  it  to  take  any  personal  liberty  with 
another  woman,  no  matter  how  attractive, 
when  practically  engaged  to  Gwen. 

Of  course  no  suspicion  of  his  having  stolen 
the  diamond  even  so  much  as  entered  his  sister's 
mind.  But  the  point  was  this :  that  if  he  had 
embraced  the  marquise,  taken  her  in  his  arms, 
touched  her,  in  fact,  beyond  merely  shaking 
hands  as  might  have  been  expected,  there  would 
be  cause  for  doubt  in  the  woman's  brain. 
And  then  so  fearful  a  thought  occurred  to 
Diana  as  to  make  her  for  the  moment  almost 
frenzied  with  apprehension. 

What  if  the  marquise  had  been  seized  with  a 
sudden  faintness  while  they  were  alone  together 
in  the  woods?  Actually  lost  consciousness, 
if  only  for  a  few  seconds?  In  such  a  case  how 
could  she  possibly  help  suspecting  William  of 


u4  THE    PEDDLER 

the  theft?  Even  a  passing  faintness  which 
might  have  required  the  support  of  his  arm 
about  her  would  be  incriminating,  especially  if 
afterward  when,  with  the  Melton  girl,  there 
had  been  no  close  contact,  no  need  of  assistance. 

For  the  marquise  really  knew  little  about 
William  and  that  little  not  strongly  in  his  favor. 
He  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  hard  liver, 
daring,  reckless,  self-willed,  and  extravagant. 
And  to  make  matters  worse,  Diana  herself  had 
advertised  the  fact  that  he  was  at  that  moment 
hard  pushed  for  money.  The  Melton  girl  had 
heard  it,  and  if  guilty  of  the  theft  herself  would 
certainly  not  have  lost  the  opportunity  to 
mention  the  fact  to  the  marquise. 

Diana  felt  that  she  could  scarcely  wait  to 
get  home  and  ask  William  the  one  all-important 
question,  when  alone  with  the  marquise  in  the 
woods,  was  she  in  full  possession  of  her  faculties 
the  entire  time?  She  hurried  back  to  the 
house,  to  find  that  the  guests  were  beginning 
to  leave,  which  on  the  whole  was  natural 
enough,  as  it  was  past  midnight.  She  was 
about  to  telephone  for  her  car  when  a  neighbor 
who  lived  some  distance  beyond  the  Kirklands 
happened  to  catch  sight  of  her  and  offered  to 
set  her  down  on  the  way. 


Chapter  IX 

ARRIVING  at  Kirkland  Manor,  the  first 
**  sounds  to  greet  Diana's  ears  on  opening 
the  door  were  disputing  voices  uplifted  in  the 
customary  wrangle,  and  she  entered  the  smok 
ing-room  to  find  her  father  and  four  brothers 
squabbling  over  the  utterly  inconsequential 
motor  trouble  with  the  hydroplane.  If  the 
situation  had  been  less  serious  Diana  could  have 
laughed.  They  looked  up  in  surprise  at  seeing 
her. 

"Hello,  Di!"  said  Donald.  "Thought  you 
were  going  to  stop  the  night  with  Gwen." 

Diana  scarcely  heard  him.  Standing  in  the 
doorway,  she  stared  at  William,  scarcely  able 
to  speak.  The  girl  was  a  striking  and  very 
lovely  figure  in  her  shimmering  evening  gown, 
her  face  like  Parian  marble,  big  violet  eyes, 
black  from  the  intensity  of  her  emotions. 

"William,"  she  cried,  "for  God's  sake,  tell 
me,  did  the  Marquise  d'Irancy  faint  away  this 
afternoon  when  you  were  with  her  in  the  lane? " 

The  strident  voices  were  instantly  hushed. 
Father  and  brothers  stared  at  Diana  in  aston- 


n6  THE    PEDDLER 

ishment,  but  William  leaned  forward  in  his 
chair,  the  high  color  fading  from  his  face. 

"What?"  he  demanded.  "Why  the  devil 
do  you  ask  me  that?" 

"Because,"  cried  Diana,  "if  she  lost  con 
sciousness,  even  for  a  second,  or  if  for  any 
other  reason  you  put  your  arm  round  her,  you 
have  got  yourself  in  the  most  horrible  mess." 

The  squire  bounded  from  his  chair  as  though 
she  had  flicked  him  across  the  face  with  a 
riding-whip. 

"Damnation!    What's  this?    What's  this?" 

"Be  still,  dad.  William,  for  the  love  of 
Heaven,  tell  me  quick!  Did  she  faint?" 

"Why,  yes!"  said  William,  coolly.  "Since 
you  insist  upon  my  telling  you,  she  did." 

Diana  seemed  about  to  strangle. 

"Oh,  my  dear,"  she  cried,  "that  great  dia 
mond  of  hers,  the  Sultana,  was  in  the  locket  of 
that  horrid  chain  she  wore,  and  it  has  been 
stolen.  She  discovered  that  it  was  gone  only 
about  an  hour  ago." 

In  the  absolute  hush  that  followed  the  only 
sounds  were  the  ticking  of  the  great  clock 
and  the  deep  breathing  of  the  five  astounded 
men.  Diana  stood  wringing  her  hands  and 
staring  through  blurred  eyes  at  William.  He 
reached  forward  slowly,  took  a  cigarette  from 


THE    PEDDLER  117 

the  smoking-table,  lighted  it  with  deliberation, 
then  asked,  in  his  customary  voice: 

"Well,  and  has  the  charming  marquise 
accused  me  of  swiping  her  big  blue  rock?" 

"She  has  not  accused  anybody,  so  far.  She 
has  not  even  told  that  she  fainted.  Oh,  Will 
iam!  Let  me  know  precisely  what  happened." 

Father  and  brothers  turned  their  heads  like 
owls  and  stared  at  the  second  son,  their  faces 
pasty  with  that  unlovely  tint  which  a  sudden 
violent  emotion  paints  on  those  of  men  who 
have  been  smoking  and  drinking  to  excess. 
That  of  William  had  quickly  regained  its  former 
complexion  and  his  expression  was  cool  and 
hard  and  recklessly  indifferent.  He  looked 
round  at  the  others  with  his  cynical  smile. 

"Perhaps  you  all  think  that  I  lifted  it—" 

"Don't  be  an  ass!"  snapped  James.  "Bark 
it  out.  What  actually  happened?" 

William  tilted  back  his  head,  inhaled  deeply 
of  his  cigarette,  and  blew  a  column  of  smoke 
at  the  ceiling. 

"Let  me  see.  To  reconstruct  the  crime — I 
was  walking  through  the  lane  to  the  Metcalfs' 
when  I  met  the  marquise  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  their  house.  She  was  carrying  her  color- 
box  and  looked  all  in.  We  exchanged  a  polite 
bonfour,  and  when  she  had  asked  after  each 


ii8  THE    PEDDLER 

and  every  member  of  the  family,  and  I  had 
given  you  all  a  clean  bill  of  health,  I  remarked 
that  she  was  very  pale  and  asked  her  if  she 
found  our  equatorial  American  summer  heat 
oppressive. 

"She  answered  that  she  had  been  unwisely 
playing  tennis  in  the  sun  that  morning  and, 
being  unaccustomed  to  the  climate,  feared  she 
had  suffered  a  slight  stroke  of  solar  rays.  On 
that  account  she  had  not  felt  quite  up  to  the 
abounding  wit  and  scintillating  repartee  of 
the  terrace  lizards,  and  so  had  come  into  the 
woods  where  it  was  still  and  cool,  to  make  a 
sketch.  She  said  that  painting  rested  her 
when  so  occupied  alone,  and  as  she  politely 
emphasized  the  'alone'  I  wished  her  au  revoir 
and  was  about  to  shift  along  when  a  big  garter 
snake  wriggled  across  the  path  almost  over 
her  dainty  toes.  She  gave  a  sort  of  gasp  and 
keeled  over.  I  caught  her  as  she  fell  and  laid 
her  down,  but  she  looked  so  ghastly  that  I  was 
scared  and  bolted  down  to  the  spring,  which, 
as  you  know,  is  about  one  hundred  yards  below 
the  lane—" 

"Oh,  William!"  cried  Diana.  "You  went 
down  to  the  spring?" 

She  checked  herself  suddenly.  Prominent 
among  this  girl's  rich  fund  of  faculties  was  that 


THE    PEDDLER  119 

of  visualization.  She  thought  of  most  situa 
tions  as  tableaux  vivants,  and  now  at  William's 
statement  that  he  had  left  the  marquise  lying 
unconscious  in  the  lane  and  gone  to  the  spring, 
which  was  some  distance  down  the  slope , 
Diana  seemed  to  see  the  picture  of  the  peddler 
standing  behind  the  big  chestnut,  one  hand  on 
the  trunk,  peering  furtively  at  the  marquise 
as  she  came  tripping  down  the  lane. 

Then,  as  though  at  a  photoplay,  there  flashed 
a  widely  different  scene:  Mr.  Parker  bustling 
up  the  steps  of  the  terrace,  bursting  with  news 
of  the  Stackpole  robbery  and  the  chaff  directed 
at  William,  who  had  been  in  the  house  when 
it  was  supposed  to  have  occurred.  Still  an 
other  mental  photograph  in  the  optic  thalami, 
the  film  screen  of  the  brain,  and  this  one  far 
different  again,  like  the  fore-glimpses  of  a  three- 
ply  drama,  jk  This  was  of  the  peddler  with  a 
locksmith's ''ring  of  dummy  keys  fitting  one 
twith  swift  skill  to  James's  kit-bag,  when  one 
day  he  had  occasion  to  go  to  Chicago  and  could 
not  find  his  pocket  key-ring. 

These  pictures  flitted  through  the  girl's  head 
about. as. rapidly  as  they  would  actually  have 
been  shown  upon  the  screen,  and  as  she  stood 
with  a  rapt  face  inwardly  contemplating  them 

the  men  stared  at  her  expectantly,  not  ventur- 
9 


120 THE    PEDDLER 

ing  to  interrupt,  because  they  saw  she  was 
deeply  plunged  in  thought.  They  had  not 
long  to  wait. 

"You  went  to  the  spring,"  Diana  repeated, 
softly. 

William  looked  at  her  sharply. 

"I  did.    What's  that  got  to  do  with  it? " 

"A  great  deal.  Go  on.  You  went  to  the 
spring.  What  then ? ' ' 

"I  went  on  the  run,  let  me  tell  you.  She 
looked  as  if  she  were  dying  or  already  dead. 
The  beastly  spring  was  full  of  leaves  and  muck 
and  I  had  to  scrape  them  away  before  I  could 
fill  the  gourd  with  muddy  water.  But  muddy 
water  was  better  than  none,  I  thought,  so  I 
filled  it  and  toddled  back  at  my  best  clip.  She 
was  just  beginning  to  show  signs  of  life,  so  I 
wet  my  hanky  and  flicked  her  face  a  little, 
when  she  came  round  all  of  a  hop  and  opened 
her  beautiful  eyes  and  smiled,  apparently  none 
the  worse  for  her  nap.  I  tried  to  get  her  to 
go  back  to  the  house,  but  she  refused,  so  I 
bided  with  her  until  I  saw  she  was  quite  herself 
again.  Then,  as  it  was  plain  enough  she 
wanted  me  to  clear  out,  I  cleared.  She  asked 
me  not  to  say  anything  about  her  having 
fainted,  so  I  did  that,  too.  It  was  all  that  beast 
ly  snake  giving  her  a  jolt  when  she  was  feeling 


THE    PEDDLER  121 

rickety.  It  gave  me  one,  too,  for  the  same 
reason." 

James,  who  had  rather  a  forensic  mind,  knit 
his  heavy  eyebrows  and  looked  thoughtfully 
at  Diana. 

"I  think  I  see  your  point,  Di,"  said  he. 
"While  William  was  at  the  spring  somebody 
else  might  have  passed  by  the  marquise. 
Have  you  reason  to  think  that  anybody  did?" 

"That's  no  good,"  said  William.  "I  may 
have  been  out  of  sight  of  her  for  three  minutes, 
not  more,  and  there  could  not  have  been  any 
body  nearer  than  the  road,  about  an  eighth 
of  a  mile  away.  There 'd  have  been  no  time, 
and,  besides,  why  should  any  one  have  sus 
pected  that  she  was  toting  a  record  diamond 
round  with  her  in  that  locket?  The  only  sign 
of  life  besides  ourselves  was  Clamp,  who  was 
thundering  over  the  road,  but  pulled  up  some 
where,  probably  to  sell  some  wayfarer  a  walk 
ing-stick  or  parasol.  No,  you'll  have  to  get 
me  a  better  alibi  than  that." 

Diana  sank  into  a  chair,  rested  her  elbow 
on  the  arm,  dropped  her  chin  on  her  cupped 
hand,  and  did  some  intensive  thinking.  William, 
of  course,  knew  nothing  about  the  peddler, 
who  as  the  marquise  passed  had  been  more  than 
half-way  the  distance  from  the  road  to  the  lane. 


122  THE    PEDDLER 

He  must  have  seen  her  coming  from  afar, 
stopped  his  truck,  and  flitted  swiftly  from  tree 
to  tree.  Diana  knew  the  peddler  to  be  a  per 
son  of  unusual  acumen,  a  craftsman  of  extraordi 
nary  skill,  and  a  tradesman  having  the  entree 
to  all  the  surrounding  estates.  Might  he  not 
have  picked  up  this  story,  of  the  Sultana,  seen 
the  marquise  in  that  framboise  gown,  recognized 
her  coming  down  the  lane,  and  seized  the  oppor 
tunity  with  his  characteristic  quick-wittedness  ? 
And  might  he  not  also  have  burgled  the 
Stackpoles'  safe? 

James's  incisive  voice  interrupted  her  train 
of  thought. 

''Pretty  serious  business,"  said  he. 

"Serious  the  devil!"  snorted  Mr.  Kirkland. 
"That  is,  so  far  as  William  is  concerned.  He 
did  precisely  what  any  gentleman  would  do 
under  such  circumstances.  As  if  anybody 
would  dare  so  much  as  hint  that  a  Kirkland 
could  be  capable  of  stealing  a  diamond  from  an 
unconscious  woman,  and  his  country's  guest  at 
that!  Rubbish!" 

"Don't  bank  on  any  such  feudal  loyalty 
in  this  section,  dacl,"  said  William.  "There 
are  plenty  of  swine  who  would  like  nothing  bet 
ter  than  to  stick  it  on  me — and  throw  in  the 
Stackpole  robbery  just  to  help  the  thing  along. 


THE    PEDDLER 123 

So  that  was  why  the  pretty  lady  was  always 
hung  with  gewgaws  like  a  Christmas  tree!" 

"Yes!"  cried  Diana,  passionately.  "That 
was  why  she  wore  the  wrist  thing  and  the 
anklet  and  her  dog-collar  belt.  The  watches 
were  dummies — just  the  faces.  They  were 
lockets  with  springs  like  a  jaw  trap  and  latches 
that  you  had  to  press  against  something  hard 
to  open." 

"Where  did  you  get  all  this.  Di?"  asked 
Donald. 

"From  Gwen.    "Nobody  else  knows,  so  far."" 

William  raised  his  black  eyebrows. 

"I  suppose  Gwen  wanted  to  give  me  the 
chance  to  give  back  the  diamond,"  said  he,, 
"and  that  when  I  fail  to  come  across  the 
marquise  will  set  in  motion  the  clumsy  machin 
ery  of  the  law." 

"Don't  be  silly,"  said  Diana,  in  a  sharp  voice. 
"Your  haughty  disdain  does  not  impress  us 
one  bit.  Now  tell  me  something  more.  Do 
you  know  whether  or  not  the  Stackpoles  have 
had  any  work  done  in  or  about  the  house 
recently?  Artisans,  I  mean — plumbers  or  car 
penters,  or  the  like?" 

"Not  to  my  knowledge,"  said  William. 
"Clamp  was  pottering  about  doing  something; 
to  the  hot-water  pipes  when  I  stopped  there 


124  THE    PEDDLER 

early  in  the  week — Tuesday  it  was — to  take 
Steve  Stackpole  into  town,  but  our  worthy 
peddler  is,  of  course,  beyond  suspicion." 

A  short  silence  fell.  James  had  sunk  back 
in  his  chair,  staring  fixedly  ahead  of  him.  The 
squire,  breathing  deeply  and  with  a  slight 
wheeze,  leaned  forward  and  served  himself  to  a 
little  Scotch.  He  also  had  recovered  his  com 
posure.  For  all  their  dissipation,  the  Kirkland 
men  were  strong,  virile  types — the  hard,  fibrous 
sort,  black-haired,  granite-eyed,  lean  and  mus 
cular,  with  high  features  which  were  rather 
grim  even  in  their  moments  of  relaxation.  Yet 
they  were  visionary,  too.  No  doubt  there  was 
a  dash  of  Pict  blood  in  their  ancient  ancestry, 
for  even  to-day  they  retained  a  certain  wildness 
of  look  and  character,  that  of  the  savage  rather 
than  the  profligate,  and  they  were  possessed 
of  a  clannishness  that  could  not  be  ruptured 
by  any  family  quarrel.  They  were  of  the  kind 
occasionally  encountered  in  which  disputes 
seemed  to  promote  the  desire  for  physical 
propinquity  rather  than  separation. 

But  when  it  came  to  a  family  menace  they 
possessed  the  cohesion  of  a  boulder,  and  this 
trait  was  generally  recognized.  In  the  present 
case  there  was  no  question  of  William's 
possible  guilt.  They  merely  rallied,  back  to 


THE    PEDDLER 125 

back,  to  repel  a  possible  attack  upon  the  family 
honor. 

James,  the  most  analytic  mind,  was  the  first 
to  break  the  short  silence. 

"When  did  this  fool  of  a  marquise  first  miss 
her  accursed  diamond?"  he  asked. 

"Af  little  before  midnight,"  said  Diana. 
"Shejcvas  standing  at  the  end  of  the  terrace, 
toying  with  the  locket,  when  she  noticed  that 
it  felt  curiously  light.  So  she  slipped  inside 
and  opened  it  and  found  that  the  diamond 
was  gone.  That  knocked  her  out,  of  course. 
Everybody  thought  that  she  had  been  taken 
ill  again,  but  there  was  a  feeling  of  mystery 
about  the  business  and  it  broke  up  the  party. 
Gwen  sent  for  me  to  meet  her  in  the  Temple 
d' Amour,  and  told  me  all  she  knew.  She 
thought  that  William  ought  to  know." 

"Did  she  suspect  William  herself?"  asked 
James. 

"Of  course  not!    She  loves  William  dearly." 

' '  Was  anybody  else  alone  with  the  marquise  ? ' ' 

"The  Melton  girl  went  over  in  the  woods 
to  join  her  and  they  came  back  together  a 
little  later.  But  it  is  not  probable  that  the 
marquise  fainted  again,  and  Gwen  says  that 
the  latch  of  the  lock  was  so  stiff  that  one 
could  not  open  it  in  one's  fingers.  She  tried 


126 THE    PEDDLER 

herself.  In  that  case  it  would  have  been 
practically  impossible  to  have  managed  it  while 
the  marquise  was  wearing  it." 

"Who  is  this  girl,  anyhow?"  said  James. 
"And  what  do  you  actually  know  about  the 
de  Vallignacs?" 

"They  are  all  right,"  said  William.  "Nothing 
phony  about  them.  When  I  was  over  there 
one  day  the  count  showed  me  a  lot  of  their 
papers.  She  is  Russian  and  he's  from  the  Midi. 
•She  did  a  lot  of  Russian  relief  work,  and  after 
the  smash-up  in  her  own  country  served  in 
France.  The  beautiful  Patricia  appears  to 
have  been  a  sort  of  propagandist  and  publicity 
agent." 

"Were  there  any  strangers  at  the  dance?" 

"No,"  answered  Diana.  "Just  our  set  here 
and  some  of  their  usual  guests.  The  marquise 
•danced  only  three  or  four  times  and  spent 
most  of  the  evening  sitting  on  the  terrace." 

"Blacker  and  blacker,"  said  William. 

"Rot!"  growled  his  father. 

Another  silence  fell.  Diana's  mind  was 
working  rapidly.  So  far  as  William  was  con 
cerned,  the  knowledge  that  he  had  gone  to  the 
spring  brought  her  infinite  relief,  yet  filled 
her  with  an  overwhelming  despair;  for  she 
didn't  see  now  who  else  than  the  peddler 


THE    PEDDLER  127 

could  possibly  be  guilty  of  the  theft.  The 
peddler  must  have  had  ample  time  to  slip  over 
to  where  the  marquise  lay  unconscious  and 
steal  the  jewel.  She  knew  nothing  of  his  ante 
cedents.  Perhaps  he  was  a  skilled  cracksman 
and  his  peculiar  commerce  merely  a  blind  for 
more  sinister  operations.  He  had  free  run  of 
the  countryside  and  its  rich  houses,  in  most 
of  which  at  various  times  he  had  done  some 
work  of  repair. 

Diana  had  read  in  fiction  of  this  type  of 
criminal  individuals  possessed  of  courage  and 
charm,  and  even  an  oblique  sense  of  chivalry, 
who  were  nevertheless  obsessed  with  the 
insistent  idea  of  theft.  She  now  felt  it  her 
imperative  duty  to  tell  what  she  had  seen,  and 
yet  for  some  reason  she  withheld  this  knowledge. 
The  man  had  saved  her  life  and  that  of  James. 
His  forceful  personality  had  invaded  her  sym 
pathies,  wakened  something  in  her  which  had 
been  dormant  until  his  advent.  The  depth  of 
obligation  to  him  made  her  feel  that  even  if 
he  were  the  thief  she  owed  it  to  him  to  hold  her 
tongue  for  the  moment  and  not  denounce  him 
until  he  had  been  given  opportunity  to  make 
restitution.  It  was  probable,  she  thought,  that 
on  learning  what  she  knew  he  might  do  this  and 
then  discontinue  his  operations  in  that  vicinity. 


128 THE    PEDDLER 

And  as  these  thoughts  were  whirling  in  her 
brain  they  heard  through  the  profound  silence 
which  had  fallen  the  staccato  exhaust  of  a 
motor-cycle  rapidly  approaching.  It  stopped 
outside  the  gate,  sputtered  a  little,  grew  louder, 
appeared  to  be  coming  up  the  drive.  The 
heads  of  the  men  rose  like  those  of  wild  animals 
at  sound  of  the  hunter  approaching  their  lair. 
William  laughed. 

"On  with  the  dance,"  said  he.  "Here  comes 
the  bull." 

The  noise  stopped  abruptly.  Then  to  their 
intense  astonishment  there  came  from  without 
the  lilt  of  a  little  song,  a  familiar  little  song 
which  unconsciously  they  had  come  to  asso 
ciate  with  help  in  time  of  need : 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironlon-ion-ton,  Mirontaine." 


"T  TPON  my  word,"  said  James,   "the  god 

^-'  from  the  machine." 

"That  damned  peddler,"  snorted  Mr.  Kirk- 
land.  "Now  what  in  blazes  does  he  want?" 

The  front  door  was  open  and  they  heard  a 
sharp  rap. 

"Come  in,  Clamp!"  called  James. 

The  peddler  entered.  As  usual,  he  was  in  his 
blue  denim,  which  seemed  always  fresh  and 
spotless,  no  matter  how  grimy  the  task  on  which 
he  happened  to  be  engaged.  But  this  time  it 
was  supplemented  by  a  pair  of  short  black- 
leather  gaiters,  such  as  French  postmen  and 
messengers  are  wont  to  wear. 

He  stood  for  a  moment  looking  at  them 
with  a  smile,  his  twinkling  gray  eyes  passing 
from  face  to  face.  As  they  rested  on  Diana, 
who  had  turned  very  white,  they  seemed  to 
flash  a  question,  then  to  soften,  and  at  some 
quality  in  their  gray  depths  or  perhaps  due  to 
a  wireless  projected  directly  from  his  mental 
centers  to  hers,  all  suspicion  of  his  guilt  was 
dissipated,  leaving  her  strangely  confused  and 
bewildered. 


130  THE    PEDDLER 

Mr.  Kirkland  twisted  about  in  his  chair  and 
glared  at  the  peddler  ferociously.  But  as  this 
look  met  the  smiling,  steady  gaze  its  hostility 
disintegrated,  the  angry  purple  of  his  face 
slowly  faded,  leaving  it  merely  that  of  a  very 
troubled  and  perplexed  old  gentleman. 

"Well,  Clamp,"  he  demanded,  "what  brings 
you  here  at  this  hour  of  the  night?" 

"My  professional  calling,  sir,"  replied  the 
peddler,  "which  is  to  fill  the  need  of  the  needy." 

James  gave  a  short  laugh. 

"Then  you've  come  to  the  right  place," 
said  he.  "Look  here,  Clamp,  not  long  ago  you 
hauled  two  members  of  this  family  out  of  a 
mighty  bad  fix  by  means  of  a  rope  and  a  stump- 
puller.  If  you've  got  any  kind  of  new-fangled 
device  to  pry  us  out  of  the  hole  we're  in  at  this 
moment,  now's  your  chance  to  strike  a  good 
bargain." 

"Sir,"  said  the  peddler,  "in  the  argot  of 
the  country,  you  have  said  it.  I  have  in  mind 
the  words  of  the  ancient  Polish  folk-song : 

"Oh,  that  I  had  the  wings  of  a  wild  goose! 
I  would  fly  to  Silesia, 
I  would  sit  on  a  fence  in  Silesia — " 

"What  devilish  gibberish  is  that?"  demanded 
the  squire. 


THE    PEDDLER 


"I  was  referring  in  metaphor  to  the  hydro 
plane,  which  in  a  few  minutes*  work  I  can  make 
ready  to  take  the  air." 

"And  what  in  thunder  has  the  hydroplane 
got  to  do  with  it?" 

"Pause  to  reflect,  sir.  If  the  hydroplane 
could  fly  —  and  I  can  guarantee  the  hydroplane 
to  fly  —  then  Mr.  William,  a  late  U.  S.  army 
aviator,  might  fly,  if  not  to  Silesia,  perhaps  to 
Bermuda  or  some  part  of  the  coast  which  is 
remote." 

"So  you've  heard  about  the  rape  of  the 
Sultana,"  said  William,  "and  have  apparently 
come  with  the  idea  of  assisting  me  to  beat  it 
while  the  beating's  good." 

"Far  be  it  from  me  to  give  advice,  sir.  All 
I  have  to  offer  is  opportunity." 

Diana  felt  the  blood  surging  into  her  head. 
In  that  moment  she  was  quite  capable  of  slay 
ing  this  cunning  trickster  as  he  stood.  The 
ruse  seemed  plain  to  her.  The  peddler  had 
evidently  come  to  urge  that  William  avail 
himself  of  the  hydroplane  as  a  means  of  escape, 
thus  exposing  him  to  the  full  fire  of  suspicion 
which  otherwise  might  possibly  be  directed 
against  himself.  And  while  the  law  was  search 
ing  William,  possibly  lost  in  midocean  through 
the  mechanical  guile  of  the  skilled  mechanic, 


ij2 THE    PEDDLER 

the  peddler  would  have  ample  time  to  dis 
appear. 

"You  slippery  faker!"  cried  Diana,  so  furi 
ously  that  the  men  bounded  up  in  their  chairs. 
"So  that's  your  game,  is  it?  James — William 
— grab  that  crook!  He's  the  wretch  that  stole 
the  Sultana  and  looted  the  Stackpoles'  safe, 
and  now  he's  trying  to  make  William  the  goat." 

But  her  brothers  were  too  astonished  to 
obey,  while  as  for  the  peddler  he  turned  his 
head  and  looked  at  the  raging  beauty  with  an 
expression  so  penetrating  and  yet  withal  of  such 
singular  sweetness  that  in  spite  of  her  conviction 
of  his  guilt  and  cunning  Diana  was  suddenly 
abashed.  She  sank  back  in  the  big  arm-chair 
and  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

"Patience,  Miss  Kirkland,"  said  the  peddler, 
"is  a  virtue  actually  possessed  by  none,  and 
desired  by  very  few.  But  Epictetus  main 
tains  that  that  which  we  do  not  desire  we 
already  possess.  Therefore  I  pray  you  now 
make  an  attempt  to  exercise  it  for  at  least  a 
few  brief  minutes." 

Diana's  eyes  flamed  at  him,  but  she  did  not 
answer.  William  laughed,  while  Mr.  Kirkland 
passed  his  hand  across  his  face  and  stared  at 
the  peddler  with  a  dazed  expression.  For 
there  was  this  quality  about  the  latter,  as 


THE    PEDDLER  133 

those  coming  in  contact  with  him  had  already 
learned,  that  his  pseudophilosophic  preambles 
possessed  invariably  some  astute  reason,  and 
that,  having  got  his  system  rid  of  them,  some 
thing  of  value  would  be  forthcoming. 

So  they  held  their  peace,  and  the  peddler, 
fixing  them  in  turn  with  his  hypnotic  gaze, 
said,  in  his  habitually  cheerful  voice:  "A  cele 
brated  British  jurist  has  proved  to  the  satis 
faction  of  his  fellow-countrymen  that  circum 
stantial  evidence  is  the  only  actual  evidence 
that  exists.  For  instance,  ten  men  may  swear 
that  they  saw  a  rabbit  run  across  the  snow- 
covered  lawn,  while  one  small  child  might 
assert  that  it  was  not  a  rabbit,  but  a  cat.  If, 
then,  on  inspection  the  tracks  are  shown  to  be 
unmistakably  those  of  a  cat,  the  fact  becomes 
incontestable  that  it  was  a  cat  and  not  a 
rabbit. 

"Again,  ten  men  may  swear  that  they  saw  the 
accused  shoot  from  his  window  at  a  neighbor, 
likewise  visible  in  his  own  window,  while  said 
accused  maintains  that  what  he  shot  at  was 
not  his  neighbor,  but  a  screech-owl  upon  a  limb, 
the  neighbor  being  hidden  from  his  view  by 
intervening  foliage,  an  apparently  slim  pretext. 
But  if  on  investigation  they  find  a  newly  killed 
screech-owl  under  the  tree,  then  the  proof  is 


i_34 THE    PEDDLER 

incontrovertible  that  he  did  actually  shoot  at 
the  screech-owl." 

"For  God's  sake,"  growled  James,  "get  down 
to  brass  tacks!" 

"Quite  so,  sir.  In  the  case  of  the  Stackpole 
burglary  three  men — the  butler,  the  valet,  and 
the  chauffeur — are  willing  to  swear  that  Mr. 
William  was  alone  in  the  smoking-room,  where 
the  safe  is  impaneled,  for  at  least  an  hour,  while 
waiting  for  Mr.  Steven  Stackpole — " 

Four  chairs  creaked  and  groaned  as  four 
strong  bodies  lunged  suddenly  forward.  William 
alone  did  not  stir. 

"The  plot  thickens,"  said  he  lightly.  "Go  on." 

"Also,"  continued  the  peddler,  "three  per 
sons,  one  of  them  a  maid,  are  ready  to  take 
oath  that  Mr.  William,  while  stopping  the 
night  at  Mr.  White's,  left  his  bedroom  at  about 
two  o'clock  and  slipped  quietly  down-stairs, 
when  on  returning  he  mistook  his  bedroom 
for  one  adjacent,  which  was  occupied  by  a 
lady  guest." 

This  time  the  four  chairs  did  not  creak,  but 
that  of  William  did. 

"My  God!"  he  gasped.  "Has  there  been 
a  burglary  there,  too?" 

"There  has,  sir;  that  of  the  safe.  Those 
acquainted  with  Mr.  William's  habits  can 


THE    PEDDLER 135 

understand  that  he  went  down  in  search  of 
alcoholic  refreshment  and  had  no  designs  on 
the  safe  or  Miss  Melton." 

"What  the  devil  was  the  Melton  girl  doing 
there?"  growled  James. 

William  sighed. 

"She  had  been  dining  there,  and  when  it 
came  time  to  leave  we  got  that  rip-snorting 
thunder-storm.  The  soft  and  tender  lady  has 
a  constitutional  dread  of  thunder-storms,  so 
they  bedded  her  down  for  the  night.  Where 
and  when  did  you  get  all  this  stuff,  Clamp?" 

"Well,  sir,  we  peddlers  in  our  errant  metier 
become  possessed  of  many  of  the  intimate 
affairs  of  the  community,  like  the  seamstress 
who  sews  out,  or  the  butcher  boy,  the  barber, 
the  expressman;  especially  where  we  combine 
the  trade  of  tinker  with  our  other  calling.  We 
learn  to  distinguish  the  sheep  from  the  goats, 
and  in  this  particular  instance,  where  the  evi 
dence  is  direct  rather  than  circumstantial,  you 
will  pardon  my  presumption  in  stating  that  Mr. 
William  is  the  potential  goat." 

"Goat! "said William.  "Well rather!  What 
with  the  loot  of  the  Sultana  coming  on  top  of 
this  yegg  stuff,  and  my  advertising  a  financial 
embarrassment  which  led  to  my  selling  the 

booze,  backed  by  a  statement  that  I  contem- 
10 


136 THE    PEDDLER 

plated  quitting  the  country,  I'm  the  regular 
original  shaggy  Rocky  Mountain  billy.  Got  a 
stump-puller  in  your  kit  that  will  drag  me  out 
of  this,  friend  peddler?  'Cause  if  you  have 
I'll  take  a  leaf  out  of  Brother  James's  book. 
Booze  got  James  chasing  squirrels  in  the  tree- 
top,  and  booze  got  me  into  this  puree,  and  if 
you  can  dig  up  something  in  your  wagon  to 
snake  me  out  of  it,  so  help  me,  James,  I'll 
follow  your  example!" 

"Can  do!"  said  the  peddler,  cheerfully. 
"That,  then,  shall  be  considered  your  side  of 
the  bet.  For  my  part,  if  I  fail  I  agree  to  assume 
the  full  responsibility  for  this  and  the  other 
crime,  of  which  as  yet  I  assume  you  to  be  in 
ignorance,  and  which  is  likewise  one  probably 
to  be  charged  to  Mr.  William's  account." 

A  succession  of  blows  may  have  one  of  two 
effects:  either  gradually  to  deaden  and  render 
plastic  or  to  break  their  objective  asunder. 

In  this  case  the  immediate  effect  was  the 
former.  The  Kirklands,  father,  sons,  and  daugh 
ter,  sat  in  a  sort  of  paralysis,  staring  dazedly 
at  the  peddler,  who  regarded  each  in  turn, 
eyes  twinkling,  lips  parted  in  a  dazzling  smile. 

"Are  you  aware,  Miss  Kirkland,  and  you, 
gentlemen,  that  your  own  antiquated  and 
inefficient  safe  is  at  this  moment  empty  as  the 


THE    PEDDLER  137 

saloon  bars  will  be  to-morrow?" — he  glanced 
at  the  clock — "or,  to  be  up  to  date,  to-day?" 

The  walls  of  the  big  room  were  heavy,  else 
they  might  have  been  drawn  inward  by  the 
suction  of  five  lusty  pairs  of  lungs.  Then  James 
leaped  up  and  rushed  to  the  ancient  safe. 
The  peddler  raised  a  warning  hand. 

"Easy  does  it,  sir,"  said  he.  "Remember 
the  cunning  little  whorls  and  tourbillions  of 
finger-prints." 

Mr.  Kirkland  sat  up  very  stiff  and  straight. 

' '  James, ' '  said  he — and  there  was  a  certain  dig 
nity  in  the  old  man's  voice — "open  that  safe!" 

James  twirled  the  combination  and  swung 
open  the  door.  Papers  and  silver  plate  were 
apparently  undisturbed. 

"Key,  dad,"  said  he,  quietly. 

Mr.  Kirkland  slipped  the  ring  from  his  chain 
and  tossed  it  to  him.  James  unlocked  the 
inner  compartment.  Money  and  the  splendid 
family  jewels  were  gone. 

"Empty  as  interplanetary  space, "  said  Will 
iam. 

In  the  astonished  silence  all  eyes  turned  to 

the  peddler,  and  it  seemed  to  Diana  that  his 

tanned  face  held  a   peculiar  glow  and  that 

there  was  a  strange  light  in  his  clear  gray  eyes. 

.  William  rose  to  his  feet. 


138 THE    PEDDLER 

"Well,  family,"  said  he,  "what  do  you  think 
of  me  now?  Pretty  straight  case  of  a  black 
sheep,  n'est-ce  pas?  And  I  can  tell  you  some 
thing  more.  You  knew  that  I  was  hard  up, 
but  you  didn't  know  that  in  the  last  few  months 
I've  frittered  away  the  bulk  of  my  inheritance. 
That's  why  I  sold  the  booze.  Now  you've 
heard  what  Clamp  has  said,  and  you've  already 
learned  that  Clamp  knows  what  he's  talking 
about,  for  all  his  hot  air.  The  Stackpole  house, 
the  Whites',  the  Sultana,  and  now  our  own  till. 
For  all  you  know  there  may  be  other  jobs  so 
far  unreported.  I've  been  living  pretty  well 
all  over  the  community  in  the  last  fortnight. 
What's  the  verdict?" 

There  was  a  growl  such  as  might  come  from 
a  bear-pit  at  feeding-time. 

"Don't  be  an  idiot,  my  boy!"  snapped  the 
squire, 

"You're  hysterical,  William,"  from  James. 

"Are  you  trying  to  make  us  cry,  brother 
dear?"  asked  Donald,  mockingly. 

"Never  mind  the  inheritance,  William," 
said  David.  "I  guess  we  can  manage  to  patch 
you  up  between  us." 

Diana  sprang  to  her  feet,  threw  her  arms 
round  William's  neck,  and  kissed  his  lean  cheek, 
then  turned  and  stared  at  the  peddler  defiantly. 


THE    PEDDLER  139 

But  it  was  not  an  aggressive  defiance;  in  fact, 
her  intention  of  the  moment  was  to  make  an 
imperative  demand  that  he  drop  all  circumlocu 
tion  and  extricate  William  immediately  from  the 
tangle  in  which  he  had  got  so  curiously  in 
volved.  Her  mind  was  hopelessly  confused 
at  being  jerked  abruptly  from  one  conclusion 
to  another,  and  it  seemed  now  probable  to  her 
that  the  actual  thief  might  as  yet  be  wholly 
unsuspected.  She  knew  that  William  was  not 
such,  no  longer  believed  the  peddler  guilty, 
and  doubted  that  Patricia  could  have  managed 
the  robbery,  even  if  the  girl  was  actually  a 
criminal,  which  seemed  most  improbable. 

But  at  something  which  now  shone  from 
the  face  of  the  peddler  she  checked  the  hot, 
peremptory  words  that  had  risen  to  her  lips. 
As  his  thoughtful  eyes  took  estimate  of  this 
stormy  family,  of  which  the  unabating  domestic 
discord  was  the  joke  of  the  community,  they 
seemed  to  soften,  to  glisten,  while  their  expres 
sion  grew  infinitely  kind.  He  stood  squarely 
on  his  feet,  his  heavy  arms  hanging  with  that 
angle  of  the  elbow  which  tells  of  tonic  muscular 
contraction,  while  his  great  breadth  of  shoulder 
gave  him  the  appearance  of  some  friendly  troll 
or  genie.  Their  eyes  met  and  Diana  felt  as 
though  a  searchlight,  a  radiograph,  had  flashed 


i4o  THE    PEDDLER 

its  signal  into  hers.  Then  he  spoke,  and  his 
voice  vibrated  through  the  room  like  the  low 
opening  chords  of  an  organ. 

"So  much  for  the  direct  evidence,"  said  he., 
"Remains  the  circumstantial.  That  is  in  my 
own  possession.  We  peddlers  go  up  and  down, ' 
here  and  there,  back  and  forth,  to  and  from. 
We  see  and  hear  and  think  about  our  friends 
and  clients,  and  often  even  feel  for  them  in 
their  distress.  We  have  known  one  another 
for  but  little  space  of  actual  time,  but  during 
this  epoch  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  render 
you  an  important  service,  and  yours  to  renew 
a  great  deal  of  my  lost  faith  in  the  trueness 
and  loyalty  of  human  nature. 

"Direct  or  circumstantial,  there  is  no  evi 
dence,  no  accusation  which  can  break  through 
the  rampart  of  such  fidelity  as  is  here.  Nothing 
could  make  you  possibly  lose  your  faith  in 
the  son  and  brother  caught  apparently  in  the 
toils.  But  because  it  might  bring  you  worry 
and  unhappiness  I  shall  tell  you  this :  He  stands 
in  no  danger  of  arrest  or  indictment.  Evil 
influences  of  which  you  know  nothing  are  work 
ing  in  this  community,  and  when  the  time  comes 
they  shall  be  curtailed.  For  the  present  you 
must  take  my  word  for  this.  Do  not  worry, 
do  not  vex  yourselves.  The  real  evidence, 


THE    PEDDLER  141 

which  is  the  circumstantial,  is  not  yet  in.  AH 
in  good  time.  So  carry  on  as  usual  and  do  not 
fret.  Sleep  in  peace.  Bear  in  mind  that  I 
have  never  failed  my  word.  And  so  good 
night." 

He  seemed  to  drift  out  of  their  range  of  vision, 
his  wide  bulk  to  dissolve  in  the  murk  behind 
him.  Perhaps  some  vibrant  resonance  of  the 
deep  voice  or  a  sudden  relief  in  the  tension  of 
their  taut  nerves  may  have  blurred  their  sight. 
Whatever  the  cause,  when  they  looked  more 
intently  he  was  gone. 

But  as  they  sat  there,  thrilled,  bewildered, 
almost  awed,  the  night  breeze  wafted  in  the 
lilt  of  his  little  song : 

"Malbrouck  s'en  va-i-ett  guerre, 
Mironton-ton-ton,  Mirontaine" 


Chapter  XI 

TfiONTINE  threw  back  her  head  and  blew 
i~'  a  thin  column  of  smoke  into  the  still  night 
air.  Stephan  drummed  softly  on  the  railing 
with  his  pointed  finger-tips,  and  looked  out 
across  the  dark  water  in  the  general  direction  of 
the  continent  of  Europe,  where  at  that  moment 
he  most  fervently  wished  himself.  His  cigar 
glowed  and  faded  in  pulsating  beats,  as  though 
some  luminous  part  of  his  organism. 

Patricia,  among  the  cushions  of  the  hammock 
bench,  sat  with  one  leg  under  her  and  the  tip 
of  a  pink  slipper  slightly  swaying  the  suspended 
couch.  She  was  trying  to  see  Leontine's  face 
through  the  velvet  darkness  and  listening  as 
might  a  daughter  to  reminiscences  edged  with 
the  counsel  of  wide  experience  as  they  flowed 
smoothly  from  the  older  woman's  lips. 

"Ivan  always  maintained,"  said  Leontine, 
"that  the  success  of  a  criminal  organization 
depended  greatly  on  its  principals  assuming 
that  the  conduct  of  its  affairs  was  entirely 
justified  if  illegal." 

"Like  many  a  promoting  concern,"  said 
Stephan. 


THE    PEDDLER  143 

"Precisely.  He  would  never  let  any  of  us 
admit  the  loss  of  amour  propre  merely  because 
we  happened  to  be  thieves,  nor  to  think  of 
ourselves  as  belonging  to  a  degraded  criminal 
class.  He  insisted  that  we  live  and  act  pre 
cisely  as  though  still  belonging  to  the  haut 
monde" 

Stephan  nodded. 

"Yes,"  he  agreed.  "Nothing  made  Ivan 
so  angry  as  to  have  any  of  his  principals  forget 
their  manners." 

"Rather  more  than  that,"  said  Leontine. 
"He  even  justified  his  own  transactions  by 
acts  of  sincere  benevolence.  He  supported  a 
little  private  home  for  tubercular  children  at 
Berck.  He  was  well  born,  a  scholar,  a  man  of 
heart,  and  a  master  thief.  And  though  he 
never  actually  shrank  from  that  last  word,  he 
claimed  that  the  predatory  instinct  was  a 
predominant  one  in  the  majority  of  mankind, 
restrained  in  most  cases  through  fear  of  the 
law  and  lack  of  finesse.  He  held  that  anybody 
who  would  try  to  get  something  for  nothing  or 
even  more  for  a  thing  than  it  was  worth  must 
be  not  only  a  thief  at  heart  but  a  hypocrite  into 
the  bargain." 

"That  was  not  Maitre  Chu-Chu's  point  of 
view,"  murmured  Stephan. 


144 THE    PEDDLER 

"By  no  means.  Chu-Chu  never  advanced 
any.  Having  neither  conscience  nor  scruple, 
he  did  not  bother  to  justify  himself.  Besides, 
he  was  bloodthirsty.  He  liked  to  kill.  He 
was  a  big-game  hunter,  and  one  of  his  favorite 
sports  was  to  take  part  in  a  Masai  lion-hunt, 
where  the  beast  is  encircled  by  men  armed  only 
with  assagai,  who  close  in  upon  it,  the  one  at 
whom  the  lion  springs  receiving  it  upon  his 
spear.  He  liked  also  to  stalk  and  make  his 
kill  by  stealth." 

Leontine  inhaled  her  cigarette  deeply  and 
appeared  to  reflect. 

"Ivan  detested  the  vulgar  idea  of  a  band 
of  robbers  where  a  spirit  of  socialism  obtained, 
and  denied  that  being  associated  in  crime 
broke  down  social  barriers.  From  his  worst 
Apache  even  to  Chu-Chu  himself,  nobody  could 
approach  him  informally,  and  woe  to  the  per 
son  who  attempted  familiarity  on  the  ground 
of  common  outlawry!  His  organization  was 
like  that  of  some  very  rich,  powerful,  dishonest 
financier,  in  whose  office  everybody  knows  him 
to  be  a  bandit,  but  accords  him  absolute  respect. 
He  was  invariably  formal,  even  with  me,  and 
never  came  to  my  little  house  in  Ranelagh 
without  first  sending  to  ask  permission.  Our 
lives  were  precisely  those  of  people  in  high 


THE    PEDDLER  145 

society.  His  chauffeur  was  one  of  his  expert 
cracksmen  and  served  him  precisely  as  Prince 
Orloff  was  served  by  his.  Our  parties  were 
always  gay,  of  course,  but  there  was  never  any 
thing  vulgar,  and  any  of  the  band  who  forgot 
himself  was  not  invited  again." 

"Precisely  as  we  have  it  here,"  said  Patricia. 
"Jean  would  never  think  of  taking  liberties, 
though  he  cracked  the  Whites'  safe;  nor 
Demitri  nor  Marie  nor  Francisco,  who  have 
also  done  their  bits." 

"Ivan  was  right,"  said  Leontine.  "Our 
servants  are  expert  thieves,  but  they  are  also 
servants.  They  knew  perfectly  well  that  the 
slightest  lack  of  respect  would  cost  them  their 
highly  paid  places,  and  that  they  would  never 
get  very  far  without  our  direction." 

"It's  the  only  method,"  said  Stephan,  "be 
cause  in  that  way  we  run  no  danger  of  being 
caught  in  fiagrante  delicto.  They  would  not 
dare  play  us  false  even  if  caught,  because  they 
know  that  for  one  thing  the  fund  would  not 
protect  them  to  its  utmost  legally,  and  that 
for  another  they  would  not  live  long  afterward. 
In  the  old  days  several  of  our  men  who  were 
caught,  and  whom  in  spite  of  our  fund  we  were 
unable  to  protect,  took  their  sentences  without 
a  murmur.  One  of  them  was  Gentleman  Joe, 


146 THE    PEDDLER 

an  American  who  afterward  came  to  Paris, 
married  Dominica  Meduna,  and  retired  from 
criminal  life.  Even  Chu-Chu  would  not  have 
harmed  him,  though  he  hated  renegades  worse 
than  he  did  the  police." 

ft  Chu-Chu  usually  left  a  dead  man  behind 
him  when  he  did  a  job,"  said  Leon  tine. 

"Don't  you  think,"  asked  Patricia,  in  her 
limpid  voice,  "that  there  may  be  times  when 
that  is  almost  unavoidable  for  the  safety  of  the 
crowd?" 

"Are  you  thinking  of  young  Kirkland?" 

"Yes.  So  far  we  have  managed  wonder 
fully.  In  any  country  but  America  he  would 
have  been  indicted  long  ago;  especially  in 
France,  where  the  accused  has  to  prove  his 
innocence.  I  counted  on  the  marquise  swear 
ing  out  a  warrant  for  him  after  what  I  told  her, 
but  for  some  reason  the  silly  little  fool  does 
not  seem  to  want  to  do  so." 

"Do  you  think  she  can  possibly  suspect 
you,  Patricia?" 

"No.  You've  seen  me  bend  a  five-franc 
piece  in  my  fingers,  Leontine,  but  I  can  tell 
you  that  it  took  every  grain  of  my  strength 
to  open  that  locket,  and  my  thumb  is  very 
painful  yet.  Then  she  was  so  interested,  as 
they  all  were,  in  watching  Clamp  lift  that 


THE    PEDDLER 147 

engine  out  and  win  his  bet  with  Gerald  Metcalf 
that  I  had  every  possible  advantage." 

"You  took  an  awful  chance,"  said  Stephan. 

"Well,  it  was  worth  it.  Still,  I  never  would 
have  done  so  if  she  hadn't  told  me  about  having 
fainted  in  the  woods.  Then  I  knew  that  I 
should  have  to  act  quickly,  so  I  did  not  let 
her  out  of  my  sight  until  we  went  down  to  the 
boat-house.  You  see,  I  knew  that  she  had  not 
opened  the  locket  and  discovered  her  loss  and 
must  surely  lay  it  to  William.  Then  the  con 
ditions  were  perfect,  because  I  was  standing 
behind  her  on  a  beam  with  my  arm  over  her 
shoulder  to  steady  myself,  and  if  she  had  dis 
covered  what  I  was  up  to  I  could  have  seemed 
to  lose  my  balance  and  grab  instinctively  at 
the  chain.  Their  chaffing  of  William  helped, 
and  my  leading  the  conversation  back  to  it  in 
her  presence." 

"It  is  evident,"  said  Stephan,  "that  Patricia 
is  a  true  artist.  She  will  go  far." 

"I  wish  I  were  going  far  immediately,"  Pa 
tricia  answered.  "I  don't  believe  that  she  will 
tell  Baron  Rosenthal,  because  she  will  be 
ashamed  to  let  him  know  ftiat  she  has  lost 
the  Sultana  so  soon  after  it  was  restored  to  her. 
But  even  if  she  should  there  is  nothing  he  can 
do.  He  may  suspect  me,  but  he  has  no  proof 


148  THE    PEDDLER 

that  I  drugged  the  Karakoff  girl,  or  that  we 
knew  where  the  Sultana  was.  When  they  found 
out  that  I  had  really  sent  back  the  smuggled  loot 
there  was  nothing  more  to  say.  The  embassy 
had  to  vouch  for  me,  and  so  did  the  Surete." 

"You  are  a  very  clever  little  girl,"  said 
Stephan.  "Not  one  worker  in  a  thousand 
would  have  done  that." 

"Zut!  What  did  it  amount  to?  A  lot  of 
rubbish  for  which  we  could  not  have  got 
twenty  thousand;  to  say  nothing  of  the  risk. 
Do  you  think  I  was  going  to  take  a  chance  on 
spoiling  everything  when  I  knew  that  Leontine 
and  you  were  coming,  and  bringing  with  you 
some  of  your  old  crowd?  It  has  worked  out 
better  than  I  had  hoped,  thanks  to  that  fool, 
William  Kirkland,  and  his  gadding  about.  All 
we've  had  to  do  has  been  to  follow  him  and 
arrange  to  pull  off  the  job  in  the  house  where 
he  happened  to  be." 

"If  only  the  marquise  would  prefer  a  charge 
against  him  our  position  would  be  invulnerable," 
said  Leontine.  "I  can't  understand  why  she 
does  not.  She  scarcely  knows  the  man.  I 
suppose,  though,  it's  the  code  of  the  old  French 
nobility.  She  is  the  Metcalfs'  guest,  and  she 
knows  that  Gwendolyn  is  in  love  with  William 
Kirkland." 


THE    PEDDLER  149 

''Yes,"  said  Patricia;  "and  the  worst  of  it 
is  her  lips  will  remain  sealed.  The  best  thing 
we  can  do  now  is  to  get  out  of  the  country  with 
what  we've  got." 

"Patience,  my  dear,"  said  Leontine.  "To 
leave  in  a  hurry  might  be  fatal.  What  worries 
me  is  the  butin  over  there  in  the  water.  It  is 
safe  enough,  I  suppose,  but  sometimes  I  think 
that  hidden  treasure  has  some  peculiar  magnetic 
quality." 

"A  telepathic  current  from  the  mind  of  the 
hider  to  that  of  the  seeker,"  Stephan  suggested. 
"You  make  me  nervous,  mon  amie,  but  I  don't 
see  how  any  one  could  possibly  find  it.  Jean 
put  it  down  at  low  tide  in  half  a  meter  of  water. 
But  I  agree  with  Patricia  that  this  is  a  case 
where  Chu-Chu's  method  might  be  followed 
to  our  very  great  advantage  with  respect  to 
William  Kirkland." 

"Leontine  is  getting  soft  as  the  result  of 
her  war  work,"  said  Patricia.  "She  was  al 
ways  something  of  a  sentimentalist,  whereas 
I  am  a—" 

"Fairy,"  said  Stephan,  lightly.  "Soulless  but 
mortal — " 

The  next  moment  he  gave  a  gasp  of  pain, 
for  the  girl  reached  out  one  long  and  beauti 
fully  rounded  arm,  her  hand  closed  across  the 


i5o  THE    PEDDLER 

back  of  his,  and  it  seemed  to  him  as  though 
a  jaw  trap  had  snapped  shut  upon  it.  He 
could  feel  the  bones  grinding  together,  thought 
they  would  be  crushed.  Then  the  grip  was 
released,  and  even  in  the  dark  he  saw  the  glow 
of  Patricia's  tawny  eyes  and  the  malicious 
upward  curve  of  one  side  of  her  wide  mouth. 

"That  will  do  from  you,  man  vieux"  said 
she.  "You  know  perfectly  well  that  I  dislike 
any  reference  to  my  peculiar  ancestry." 

"Sapristi!"  growled  Stephan.  "But  you 
have  broken  my  hand.  Where  do  you  get 
such  diabolic  strength?" 

"Perhaps  from  the  source  you  refer  to.  Eh 
bien,  about  young  Kirkland.  You  must  ac 
knowledge,  Leontine,  that  he  would  be  of 
inestimable  value  to  us,  dead — by  his  own 
hand." 

There  was  a  moment's  silence.  Leontine's 
great  eyes  burned  at  Patricia  through  the 
murk  as  though  she  was  trying  to  fathom  how 
much  of  bravado  and  how  much  of  real  inten 
tion  lay  behind  the  limpid  voice.  They  were 
sitting  under  the  awning  rigged  out  over  the 
roof  of  the  boat-house,  which  had  been  furnished 
with  rugs  and  wicker  chairs  and  hammock 
bench  as  a  kiosk  for  tea  and  after-dinner 
coffee. 


THE    PEDDLER  151 

"You  see,"  said  Patricia,  "we  have  it  man 
aged  so  that  everybody  looks  at  him  askance, 
and  he  knows  it  and  no  longer  goes  about  at  all, 
while  pride  keeps  him  from  leaving  the  place — 
or  possibly  the  fear  of  arrest.  Now  if  he  were 
to  shoot  himself  or  hang  himself  or  poison  or 
drown  or  otherwise  kill  himself  it  would  be 
taken  as  direct  evidence  of  his  guilt,  and  that  he 
felt  the  net  drawing  in  round  him." 

"It  would  not  be  easy  to  manage,"  said 
Stephan.  "I  doubt  if  any  of  our  people  would 
be  willing  to  tackle  it." 

"Of  course  not!"  said  Patricia.  "Nor  have 
we  any  right  to  ask  them  to.  'Chacun  d  son 
metier' — and  theirs  is  not  assassination.  They 
are  experts  in  their  line,  which  is  skilled  house- 
breaking  and  safe-opening,  and  would  be  sure 
to  bungle  the  attempt." 

"I  hope  you  don't  want  me  to  do  it,"  growled 
Stephan. 

Patricia's  low,  mocking  laugh  was  anything 
but  flattering  to  a  student  and  disciple  of  Chu- 
Chu  le  Tondeur. 

"No  fear,  mon  ami." 

"Then  who?"  Leontine  asked,  sharply.     "I 
must   admit  I'm  not  at  all  in  favor  of  the 
idea." 
n"You  don't  forbid  it?"  Patricia  asked. 


152 THE    PEDDLER 

"Yes;  on  the  whole  I  do.  Easing  rich  people 
of  their  surplus  weath  is  one  thing,  and  killing 
quite  another.  Ivan  and  I  always  hated  Chu- 
Chu's  way  of  working,  and  my  ideas  have  grown 
even  more  averse  to  it.  Besides,  it  is  unneces 
sary.  Put  it  out  of  your  mind,  my  dear.  Well, 
it  is  late  and  I'm  going  to  bed."  She  rose. 
"Bonne  nuit,  mes  amis" 

She  went  down  the  steps  and  entered  the 
house.  Patricia  turned  to  Stephan. 

' '  Leontine's  qualms  will  be  her  ruin  some  day, 
just  as  Ivan's  were  his,"  said  she.  "Don't  you 
see,  Stephan,  how  very  much  it  would  be  to 
our  advantage  if  William  Kirkland  were  thought 
to  have  committed  suicide — how  absolutely 
secure  it  would  make  our  position?  I  had 
hoped  that  he  might  leave,  but  it  is  evident  that 
he  has  no  such  intention.  These  Kirklands 
are  proud,  stubborn  folks.  But  if  he  were 
thought  to  have  killed  himself,  that  would  be 
even  better.  One  would  argue  that  he  must 
have  felt  himself  lost." 

"Sapristi!  I  believe  you — but  I  do  not  like 
it." 

"Why  not?  Surely  you  haven't  any  of  Le 
ontine's  scruples?" 

"Of  course  not!  But  the  risk  is  too  great. 
He  would  have  to  hang  himself.  A  pistol- 


THE    PEDDLER  153 

shot  would  bring  people  to  the  place  and  cause 
immediate  inquiry,  which  might  be  fatal  to 
us;  and  if  he  were  to  be  knocked  in  the  head 
and  thrown  into  the  water  the  autopsy  would 
show  that  he  had  not  drowned." 

Patricia  nodded. 

"It  would  have  to  be  done  at  night  and  on 
the  premises,"  said  she.  "A  tap  on  the  head 
which  would  leave  no  mark,  then  string  him 
up  from  a  low  bough  which  he  might  have 
reached  to  attach  the  cord  by  standing  on  a 
box  or  something." 

"That,  also,  is  no  good,"  said  Stephan. 
"Aside  from  the  risk  of  the  attempt,  an  expert 
autopsy  would  show  that  the  act  was  not 
suicide.  I  know  something  about  such  things. 
There  would  be  an  extravasation  of  blood  in 
the  brain,  and  an  examination  of  the  lungs 
and  heart  would  show  that  he  had  not  died  of 
asphyxiation.  There  would  be  something  to 
indicate  that  it  was  not  suicide,  but  murder.  I 
doubt  that  you  could  kill  him  in  any  way  at 
all  and  fool  modern  science  into  pronouncing  it 
suicide.  It  would  then  become  obvious  what 
the  motive  of  the  crime  had  been,  and  our 
position  would  be  really  precarious,  which  at 
this  moment  it  is  not." 

Patricia  did  not  immediately  answer.     She 


154 THE    PEDDLER 

swung  herself  gently  to  and  fro.  There  was 
a  late  moon,  and  its  light,  striking  up  from  the 
platinum  sheen  of  the  water,  accentuated  the 
elfishness  of  her  face  and  its  inhuman  malice. 
Hardened  as  Stephan  was,  it  seemed  to  him 
incredible  that  this  young  and  sylphlike  creat 
ure  could  be  possessed  of  so  cool  and  ruth 
less  and  diabolic  a  mind.  From  her  physical 
appearance,  elusive  smile,  and  purling  voice 
one  might  have  thought  her  a  mischievous 
school-girl  planning  some  prank  on  her  instruc 
tress.  To  and  fro  she  swung,  the  toe  of  her 
slipper  weaving  little  cabalistic  signs  while  her 
fantastic  brain  took  up  and  rejected  plans  of 
subtle  murder,  a  good  deal  as  might  the  school 
girl's  plot  the  classic  practical  joke  of  putting 
ferric  chlorid  in  the  water-pitcher  and  tannic- 
acid  powder  on  the  towel,  to  combine  and  pre 
cipitate  as  ink  on  the  face  of  the  prospective 
victim.  Then  suddenly  she  clapped  her  palms 
softly  together  with  a  little  cry  of  satisfaction. 

"Gayest— I  have  it!" 

"What  then?" 

"I  shall  not  telTyou.  I'm  afraid  you  might 
try  to  discourage  me.  But  it  is  a  perfect  plan 
and  one  to  which  none  of  your  objections  can 
apply.  But  to  carry  it  out  I  must  know  some 
thing  of  his  habits.  That  swaggering  sister 


THE    PEDDLER 155 

of  his  scarcely  speaks  to  anybody  now.  Lis 
ten,  Stephan — you  will  have  to  help  me.  You 
are  on  good  terms  with  the  Kirklands.  I  want 
you  to  drop  in  there  to-morrow  as  though  to 
pay  bonfour  in  passing,  and  if  you  can  manage 
it  get  me  one  of  the  thick  silk  cords  that  loop 
back  those  ugly  old-fashioned  portieres  in  the 
drawing-room.  That  should  not  be  difficult." 

Stephan  raised  his  black  eyebrows. 

"That  gives  your  plan  away,"  said  he. 
1 '  La  garrotte! ' '  He  shook  his  head.  ' '  The  man 
is  powerful." 

"Zut!  Once  passing  the  cord,  a  slip  of  a 
girl  could  strangle  a  stevedore;  and  I  am  no 
weakling,  as  perhaps  you  may  admit." 

"To  my  sorrow." 

"But  I  must  know  something  of  his  habits." 

Stephan  shrugged. 

"That  is  not  easy  under  the  circumstances, 
and,  being  such  people  as  they  are,  it  is  not 
probable  that  they  would  discuss  them  with 
anybody,  especially  a  recent  acquaintance." 

Patricia  continued  swinging  to  and  fro, 
and  it  seemed  to  Stephan,  watching  the  pale 
oval  of  her  face,  that  some  unholy  light  glowed 
from  the  dark  grottoes  of  her  eyes.  Disciple 
of  Chu-Chu's  as  he  was,  a  shudder  rippled 
through  him,  but  then  he  had  never  known 


IS6  THE    PEDDLER 

Chu-Chu  to  take  any  such  pains  in  the  plotting 
of  a  murder.  In  fact,  this  arch  criminal  rarely 
plotted  one  at  all.  Like  the  b$te  f grace  he  was, 
he  made  his  kill  as  occasion  offered. 

So  Stephan  watched  this  silky  spider  as 
she  wove  her  web,  wishing  but  not  quite  daring 
to  veto  the  attempt.  For,  though  possessed 
of  his  share  of  criminal  courage,  he  had  rather 
the  heart  of  an  Apache  than  the  bloodthirsti- 
ness  of  his  late  master.  And  as  he  watched, 
the  rhythmic  swaying  ceased  and  Patricia 
leaned  forward. 

"I've  got  it!"  said  she.  "I'll  pump  the 
peddler." 

"The  peddler?" 

"Yes — Clamp.  He  should  be  passing  here 
in  a  day  or  two.  We'll  make  a  job  for  him, 
and  while  he's  working  I'll  engage  him  in  con 
versation.  He  goes  to  the  Kirklands*  fre 
quently.  I  think  the  girl  has  a  penchant  for 
him  and  the  man  is  clever  enough  to  work  it 
to  his  advantage.  You  know  when  we  passed 
the  other  day  we  saw  her  hiding  behind  his 
van." 

"A  good  idea!"  said  Stephan.  "That  in 
spired  idiot  would  rather  talk  than  make  a 
tele.*' 

Patricia  rose,  raised  her  bare  arms  above  her 


THE    PEDDLER 157 

head,  and  stretched  her  lithe  body  in  a  curiously 
feral  way.  "Eh  bien"  said  she,  "then  I  shall 
count  on  you  to  get  me  the  cord.  Don't  tell 
Leontine.  She  will  be  glad  enough  when  the 
job  is  done  and  we  can  go  aboard  the  yacht 
and  get  off  for  South  America." 


Chapter  XII 

HP  HERE  are  many  worse  professions  than 
*•  that  of  country  peddler  in  the  golden  sum 
mer-time,  especially  when  one  peddles  from  an 
ex-army  motor-truck  of  which  the  roomy 
carapace  includes  a  sleeping-porch  with  all  the 
facilities  for  light  housekeeping. 

Such  a  one  is  exempt  from  the  monotony  of 
the  storekeeper,  the  tiresome  routine  of  each 
day's  work,  the  same  homely  faces — or,  worse 
yet,  none — the  unchanging  aspect  of  Main 
Street  frying  in  the  sun,  the  dogs,  flies,  the 
heat — all  of  these  were  spared  the  peddler. 
He  did  not  have  to  wait  for  trade  to  come  to 
him.  The  volcano  which  inclosed  him  moved 
to  the  Mohammeds  of  his  clientele,  and  seldom 
without  an  accretion  of  gain.  There  was  a 
sort  of  violent  moral  aggression  in  the  very 
rumpus  of  his  approach,  which  acted  to  under 
mine  any  idea  of  resistance  under  his  solicita 
tion,  to  disintegrate  refusal  to  purchase  as 
though  by  vibratory  waves.  The  victim  lacked 
the  courage  to  hold  tight  his  purse-strings  in 
the  case  of  a  merchant  whose  very  coming 
shook  his  house  to  its  foundation. 


THE    PEDDLER  159 

Notwithstanding  these  benefits,  the  mind  of 
the  peddler  was  slightly  oppressed  this  bright 
midsummer  day,  as  Torp  could  have  testified 
from  the  face  of  his  master  and  the  absent- 
minded  tugs  which  were  given  his  silky  ears  as 
the  big  van  rumbled  over  the  road.  A  philo 
sophic  pucker  sat  upon  the  countenance  of  the 
peddler  as  he  thundered  down  the  turnpike 
which  passed  the  de  Vallignacs'  house,  and 
the  alertness  of  his  eyes  held  something  of  the 
quality  which  might  be  seen  in  those  of  a 
shikari  on  nearing  the  tiger's  lair.  He  had 
counted  upon  drawing  his  game,  and  in  this 
was  not  disappointed,  for,  heralded  from  afar, 
he  beheld  the  Filipino  butler,  Francisco,  come 
down  the  path  to  the  gate.  This  sleek  servitor 
beckoned  him  in  the  Oriental  way,  with  a  gest 
ure  which  we  of  the  Western  World  interpret 
as  meaning  "go  away" — the  hand  moved  from 
instead  of  toward  the  body,  with  a  scooping 
motion  directed  downward. 

The  peddler  stopped  his  chariot,  then  cheer 
fully  saluted  the  nation's  ward,  with  whom  he 
was  on  friendly  terms. 

"Buenos  dias,  hermano  mio! "  said  he.  "And 
what  need  of  yours  may  I  have  the  honor  to 
supply?  A  little  silver  polish?  Or  perhaps 
the  water-pipes  have  frozen?" 


160 THE    PEDDLER 

"He  want  you  do  a  little  work  job,"  replied 
the  Filipino. 

"What  kind  of  little  work  job,  amigo  mio?" 

"He  tell  you;  not  take  long — you  come  see." 

The  peddler  swung  himself  down,  leaving 
Torp  in  charge,  as  usual.  The  butler  led  him 
round  the  house  to  the  rear,  whereupon  Stephan 
came  out  on  the  back  veranda. 

"Good  morning,  Clamp,"  said  he.  "I've 
been  waiting  for  you  to  pass.  Some  of  the  tiles 
have  fallen  from  the  bath-room  wall,  and  no 
doubt  you  can  put  them  back  with  a  bit  of 
cement." 

"To  promote  molecular  cohesion,  sir,"  said 
the  peddler,  "they  should  first  be  soaked  for 
several  hours.  But  as  my  cement  is  of  such 
superior  quality  I  may  perhaps  be  able  to 
manage  as  they  are.  Kindly  show  me  this 
example  of  slipshod  labor  on  the  part  of  the 
tile-layer." 

Stephan  led  him  into  the  house  and  to  a 
bath-room  on  the  second  floor,  where  he  indi 
cated  three  or  four  square  feet  from  which 
the  tiles  had  fallen.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had 
observed  that  they  were  getting  loose,  and  had 
removed  them  himself  to  make  a  job  for  the 
peddler,  who  dropped  upon  his  knees  and, 
replacing  them  experimentally,  discovered  that 


THE    PEDDLER  161 

they  were  not  so  closely  set  as  to  make  his  task 
unduly  difficult. 

"In  the  cryptic  speech  of  the  Mongolian, 
can  do,  sir,"  said  he.  "Did  it  ever  strike  you, 
sir,  what  a  positive  demonstration  of  the  super 
fluity  of  our  usual  diction  is  furnished  by  one's 
ignorance  of  an  alien  tongue?  Can  do,  sir — 
how  simple,  yet  how  exhaustive!  Now  in 
French  the  artisan  would  say,  'Gentleman, 
this  work  can  make  itself  without  too  much 
pain.'" 

Stephan  laughed. 

"Monsieur,  cet  oumage  pent  se  faire  sans  trop 
de  peine,"  he  translated.  "Clamp,  I  suspect 
you  of  being  a  bit  of  a  fraud.  You  know  more 
French  than  you  are  willing  to  admit." 

"Another  Oriental  subtlety,  sir."  He  gath 
ered  up  the  fallen  tiles,  placed  them  in  the  bath 
tub,  and  turned  on  the  water.  "I  will  now  pro 
cure  a  little  of  my  Hold  Fast  Cement,  make  a 
liquid  solution  which  I  shall  apply  with  a  plas 
terer's  brush,  and  so  attach,  fasten,  secure,  and 
colle  these  tiles  that  they  will  stick  until  loosened 
by  the  blast  of  Gabriel's  horn — or  the  passage 
of  my  motor-truck,  which  candor  compels  me  to 
admit  may  possibly  have  been  the  cause  of 
their  rupture  from  the  wall.  Thus  the  intelli 
gent  artisan  provides  himself  with  work — at 


1 62  THE    PEDDLER 

another's  expense.  Ask  any  honest  plumber — 
if  you  can  find  one,  which  is  doubtful." 

He  proceeded  busily  about  the  job,  occa 
sionally  humming  his  little  song,  and  before 
he  had  been  long  at  work  heard  the  rustle  of  a 
gown  and  became  conscious  of  a  presence  in 
the  doorway.  Looking  up,  his  eyes  met  the 
tawny  ones  of  Patricia,  at  sight  of  whom  he 
rose  and  bowed,  then  got  down  again. 

The  peddler  missed  no  subtlety  of  the  quiz 
zing  that  then  began,  his  responses  respectful, 
yet  with  a  hint  of  that  underlying  mockery 
known  to  be  characteristic  of  him.  It  seemed 
to  him  as  though  every  separate  brain  cell 
in  the  well-convoluted  organ  with  which  he  had 
been  endowed  was  thrusting  out  its  myriad 
processes  like  a  sea  anemone  or  coral  organism, 
hungrily  oscillating  in  the  flow  of  the  tide. 
A  sixth  sense  told  him  that  Patricia  was  not 
there  to  admire  his  fine  eyes  or  to  match  her 
wit  with  his,  and  he  felt  the  thrill  of  the  hunter 
at  a  rustling  in  the  leaves  when  presently  she 
asked,  "Have  you  been  to  the  Kirklands' 
lately?" 

"I  repaired  their  motor  pump  but  yesterday," 
he  answered;  "and  I  was  glad  to  finish  the  job 
and  get  away.  Even  my  philosophic  spirit 
was  oppressed  by  the  melancholy  atmosphere 


THE    PEDDLER 163 

which  has  fallen  upon  that  erstwhile  noisy 
home.  It  is  no  little  thing  when  people  are  no 
longer  able  to  laugh,  but  when  such  a  family 
as  the  Kirklands  has  no  longer  the  heart  to 
quarrel  it  is  in  evil  state." 

He  laid  down  his  brush  and  looked  up  at  her. 

"Poor  Mr.  William  mopes  about  like  a  Parsi 
pariah  or  a  Kanaka  under  a  taboo.  I  do  not 
believe  that  he  had  anything  to  do  with  the 
successful  socialistic  achievements  that  have 
been  pulled  off  in  this  community. 

"Because  to  be  the  deft  Arsene  Lupin  which 
his  neighbors  evidently  consider  him  requires 
no  small  degree  of  mechanical  skill  and  technic, 
supplemented  by  practice.  People  slander  the 
skilled  cracksman  when  they  accuse  anybody, 
from  the  aristocratic  country  gentleman  to  the 
hobo  sleeping  under  the  hedge,  of  a  job  that 
could  only  be  done  by  the  master  thief.  Now 
if  they  had  suspected  me  there  would  have 
been  some  sense  about  it." 

"I  heard  your  name  mentioned  for  the 
honor,"  said  Patricia,  "but  the  trouble  was, 
in  two  instances,  you  were  known  to  have  been 
somewhere  else." 

"Yes,  one  advantage  of  an  errant  metier  is 
that  one  is  furnished  with  an  automatic 
alibi." 


164 THE    PEDDLER 

"What  is  your  own  theory,  if  you  don't 
mind  my  asking?" 

"There  is  a  single  reasonable  one.  A  clever 
gang  put  in  here  somewhere  on  a  boat,  probably 
under  the  guise  of  yachtsmen,  and  went  through 
two  or  three  houses,  when,  profiting  by  the 
general  alarm,  the  others  may  possibly  have 
been  plundered  by  their  own  inmates.  As 
Kipling  says  with  a  truth  greater  than  his 
poesy:  'We  are  all  of  us  liars.  We  are  most 
of  us  thieves.'"  He  rasped  the  edge  of  a  tile 
with  his  heavy  file  and  tapped  it  into  place 
with  a  wooden  r  -illet.  "The  spirit  of  the 
Bolshevik  is  ram-  jft  %in  the  land,  and,  as  with 
the  flu,  almost  ar  *t>ody  is  apt  to  be  infected." 

"Does  Mr.  wbliam  take  it  very  hard?" 
Patricia  asked.  /'We  never  see  him  any  more. 
What  does  he  de^ith  himself?" 

"He  mopes,  jsfa'am.  He  is  like  a  dog  which, 
having  been  unjustly  punished  for  a  misde 
meanor  on  the  fart  of  the  cat,  holds  himself 
aloof  from  the  family;  and  he  has  developed — " 

The  peddler  dipped  his  brush  in  the  liquid 
cement,  laid  it  against  the  wall,  and  in  the 
preoccupation  of  fitting  another  tile  appeared 
to  have  forgotten  the  thread  of  his  discourse. 

"What  has  he  developed?"  Patricia  asked. 

"A    melancholy    habit    of    mooning    about 


THE    PEDDLER  165 

alone.  Also  I  fear  that  his  addiction  to  strong 
drink  has  been  augumented.  When  not  in  an 
excited  state  he  is  heavily  morose,  and  I  fear 
that  the  day  approaches  when,  like  Strepsiades 
in  the  'Clouds'  of  Aristophanes,  he  may  exclaim: 
'Unfortunate  man  that  I  am!  What  a  penalty 
shall  I  this  day  pay  to  the  bugs!'" 

Patricia  did  not  smile. 

"They  had  better  look  after  him  a  little," 
said  she.  "Does  he  roam  about  at  night?" 

The  peddler  took  another  tile  from  the  bath 
tub  and  fitted  it  in  place. 

"Katie,  Miss  Kirkland's  maid,  with  whom  I 
am  on  friendly  terms,  tells  me  that  he  spends 
most  of  the  night  sitting  on  a  rustic  bench  in 
the  shadow  of  the  pines  which  fringe  the  shore, 
staring  at  the  drab  surface  of  the  sea.  He  ap 
pears  to  resent  the  presence  of  other  members 
of  the  family,  who  leave  him  to  his  own  devices. 
He  dislikes  even  the  society  of  the  dogs  and 
insists  that  they  be  shut  up  at  night.  That 
is,  I  understand,  a  constant  feature  of  melan 
cholia — the  avoidance  of  the  companionship  of 
any  whom  the  unfortunate  has  previously 
loved." 

' '  Poor  fellow ! ' '  said  Patricia.  "  I  quite  agree 
with  you,  Clamp.  I  don't  believe  he  had  any 
thing  to  do  with  those  burglaries.  I  will  tell 


166 THE    PEDDLER 

you  something  which  perhaps  you  may  not 
know.  William  Kirkland  was  spending  the 
night  at  the  Whites'  when  the  safe  was  robbed. 
The  servants  had  been  having  a  stable  dance, 
and  when  three  of  them  came  in  at  about  two 
o'clock  they  saw  him  go  up  the  stairs  and  enter 
my  room.  I  was  sleeping  soundly  and  did  not 
wake,  and  fortunately  for  my  reputation  he  left 
immediately  and  went  into  his  own.  This,  of 
course,  roused  suspicion,  but  my  own  opinion 
is  that  he  was  merely  confused  from  drink." 

"You  are  very  generous,"  said  Clamp.  "Of 
course  it  is  possible  that  one  of  the  servants 
might  have  taken  advantage  of  the  incident 
to  turn  the  trick  herself." 

"My  own  idea,"  said  she. 

"At  any  day,"  said  the  peddler,  "we  may 
hear  of  a  fresh  outbreak  of  this  Bolshevik 
property  division.  That  may  remove  sus 
picion  from  Mr.  William." 

"Why?"  asked  Patricia. 

"Because  I  think  it  possible  that  to-morrow 
or  the  next  day  his  family  may  take  the  drastic 
action  of  removing  him  to  a  sanitarium." 

He  squinted  along  the  edge  of  a  tile,  sighting 
away  from  the  light  and  in  the  direction  of 
Patricia's  face,  then  fitted  it  in  place.  It  was 
the  last,  and  the  peddler  rose. 


THE    PEDDLER 167 

"I  think  that  these  tiles  will  now  resist 
even  the  trepidation  caused  by  the  passage 
of  my  happy  rolling  home  and  mobile  mart  of 
trade." 

"Thank  you,"  said  Patricia.  "And  how 
much  do  we  owe  you?" 

"One  dollar  and  eighteen  cents,  if  you  please." 

"Why  eighteen  instead  of  twenty  or  twenty- 
five?" 

"The  exact  price  of  the  Hold  Fast  Cement 
which  I  have  used.  As  the  thrifty  French  put 
it,  lLes  bans  comptes  font  les  bans  amis." 

Patricia  settled  the  account  and  he  departed, 
singing  his  little  song: 


'Malbrouck  s'en  va-t-en  guerre, 
Mironlon-ton-ton,  Mirontaine." 


12 


Chapter  XIII 

HTHE  face  of  the  peddler  was  more  puckered 
*•  than  ever  as  he  rolled  through  the  populous 
community,  presently  to  take  the  shore  road 
which  led  along  the  top  of  the  low  cliffs.  'Here 
he  stopped  and,  taking  a  pair  of  powerful  binoc 
ulars  from  a  sling  behind  his  seat,  got  down, 
walked  to  the  brink,  and,  seating  himself  behind 
a  large  flat  stone  where  he  was  invisible  from 
the  road,  proceeded  to  examine  through  his 
glasses  a  small  vessel  lying  at  anchor  opposite 
the  de  Vallignacs'  house  and  about  a  cable's 
length  offshore. 

This  would  have  been  recognized  by  a  naval 
person  as  one  of  the  swift  and  seaworthy  sub 
marine-chasers  of  the  one-hundred-and-ten- 
foot  class,  ordered  by  the  government  for  this 
purpose,  a  few  of  which  were  sent  to  European 
waters.  In  the  present  case  the  boat  had 
been  apparently  converted  into  a  yacht,  as  was 
indicated  by  the  ensign  which  fluttered  from 
her  stern  and  except  for  which  she  might 
have  been  thought  still  in  the  service  of  the 
Hon.  Josephus  Daniels.  Aside  from  the  fouled 
anchor  in  the  field  of  stars  and  the  absence 


THE    PEDDLER  169 

of  guns  there  was  nothing  about  her  to  designate 
the  pleasure  craft,  and  the  peddler  thought  it 
probable  that  she  had  been  bought  on  the 
stocks  of  the  builders  by  some  private  individual 
after  the  armistice  was  signed. 

For  about  two  hours  he  kept  her  under  obser 
vation,  during  which  time  he  saw  her  motor 
dinghy  with  two  yachtsmen  and  a  sailor  put  off 
and  run  to  a  public  pier  some  distance  below 
the  de  Vallignacs'.  Here  it  landed  its  passen 
gers  and  returned,  after  which  nothing  of  any 
importance  occurred.  The  peddler  glanced  at 
the  sky,  which  was  beginning  to  thicken,  then 
walked  to  his  truck,  cranked  up,  got  aboard, 
and  proceeded  on  his  way;  and  as  the  heavy 
vehicle  clamored  along  to  disturb  the  stagnant 
air  the  lines  of  thought  deepened  in  the  driver's 
face  and  his  free  hand  tugged  at  Torp's  long 
ears  with  such  painful  abstraction  that,  after 
a  few  protesting  but  disregarded  whines,  the 
little  dog  descended  something  in  the  manner 
of  an  inchworm,  hopped  off  upon  the  road, 
rolled  over  once  or  twice,  got  up,  did  a  shimmy, 
and  paralleled  his  master's  course,  trotting  in 
front,  galloping  behind. 

The  big  van  growled  and  snorted  on  its  way, 
passed  without  pausing  before  the  establish 
ments  of  several  clients  where  sales  were  almost 


170  THE    PEDDLER 

certain,  followed  the  road  inland  for  a  little  way, 
crossed  the  railroad  tracks,  plowed  up  the  main 
street  of  a  village  where  local  shopmen  regarded  it 
and  its  nomadic  proprietor  with  scowls  of  strong 
disfavor.  It  thundered  at  Oak  Hill,  where  the 
rescue  of  James  and  Diana  had  given  the  peddler 
his  first  strong  lien  of  trade  in  the  community, 
and,  having  made  the  steep  ascent  with  defiant 
roars,  it  proceeded  at  its  normal  speed  toward 
Kirkland  Manor,  two  miles  farther  on. 

As  he  drew  near  the  big  entrance  gates  the 
peddler  eyed  them  expectantly,  for,  not  caring 
to  presume  on  a  fortuitous  obligation,  he  never 
entered  the  estate  with  his  truck  unless  sum 
moned  to  do  so,  the  peculiar  character  of  his 
progress  being  heralded  in  a  manner  to  give 
ample  time  for  such  summons  to  be  made. 
Seeing  no  one,  he  passed  deliberately,  conscious 
through  his  well-developed  sixth  sense  that  he 
would  not  get  far  unhalted.  In  this  he  was  not 
deceived,  as  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther 
down  the  road  he  saw  a  splendid  girlish  figure 
standing  in  the  shade  of  a  tree,  or,  rather, 
standing  under  a  tree  at  the  side  of  the  road, 
the  sullen  opacity  of  the  sky  having  quenched 
high  light  and  shadow.  The  peddler  stopped 
his  motor,  turned  out  to  leave  room  for  traffic, 
and  got  down  with  his  cheerful  bow  and  smile. 


THE    PEDDLER 171 

But  Diana  neither  bowed  nor  smiled. 

"I  want  to  talk  to  you,"  said  she. 

"The  desire  is  mutual,  Miss  Kirkland." 

"I'd  rather  not  be  seen.  Come  back  here 
into  the  firs." 

He  nodded  and  offered  his  hand  to  help  her 
up  the  crumbling  stone  wall,  but  she  ignored 
it  and  sprang  over  as  lightly  as  a  Russian  dancer. 
They  walked  a  little  distance  from  the  road  and 
came  to  a  wind-felled  chestnut,  where  she  seated 
herself  upon  the  trunk,  the  peddler  remaining 
on  his  feet  in  front  of  her. 

"Well,"  she  asked,  "have  you  any  news?" 

"Yes,"  he  answered. 

None  of  his  regular  clients  who  might  have 
happened  within  earshot  could  have  recognized 
the  peddler  from  his  voice  and  manner  of 
speaking.  For,  from  this  moment  on,  both 
were  so  strikingly  distinct  and  apart  from  the 
blithe  and  cheerful  utterance  and  fantastic  and 
philosophic  rallies  with  which  he  entertained 
his  customers  that  one  would  have  bet  one's 
last  dime  that  here  spoke  a  different  individual. 
The  voice  itself,  heretofore  a  high  barytone, 
became  a  resonant  bass,  the  phrases  were  curt 
and  comprehensive,  with  no  verbal  waste  prod 
uct  in  their  making.  But  most  striking  of  all 
was  a  certain  crisp,  authoritative  note,  as  of  one 


i_72 THE    PEDDLER 

accustomed  to  command.  This  was  not  arro 
gant  or  aggressive  or  precisely  military  in  its 
cadence,  but  suggested  rather  a  person  who 
unconsciously  commands  and  never  thinks  to 
encounter  any  possible  lack  of  prompt  obedi 
ence. 

"What  is  it?"  Diana  asked. 

"All  in  good  time.  How  are  you  getting 
on?" 

"Very  badly, "  said  Diana.  "This  thing  has 
thrown  a  black  cloud  over  our  place,  and  of 
course  the  boys  are  drinking  harder  than  ever. 
It  was  bad  enough  before.  I'm  nearly  dis 
tracted.  Unless  something  happens  pretty 
soon  we  are  going  to  fly  to  pieces." 

"Something  is  going  to  happen  very  soon. 
How  has  your  brother  William  been  behaving  ? " 

"Like  a  caged  wolf.  He  no  longer  leaves  the 
place,  and  I  am  glad  of  it,  for  he  is  in  such  a 
rabid  state  that  the  least  thing  might  precipitate 
a  tragedy — a  sidelong  look  or  a  snicker  or  a 
bad  joke." 

"I  think  that  we  shall  soon  correct  that," 
said  the  peddler.  He  glanced  up  at  the  heavy, 
turgid  sky.  "Probably  to-night  unless  it  rains; 
which  it  will  not  if  I  have  any  virtue  as  a 
weather  prophet.  It  looks  as  though  it  was 
going  to  be  a  perfectly  good  night  for  a  murder, 


. THE    PEDDLER 173 

and  I  am  under  the  conviction  that  one  is  to  be 
attempted." 

Diana's  face  whitened.  She  leaned  forward 
and  looked  up  at  him  with  burning  eyes. 

' '  Must  you  keep  me  in  such  horrible  suspense  ? 
Can't  you  tell  me  who  they  are,  what  they  are, 
who  you  are?'* 

"Yes.  The  time  has  come  to  lay  my  cards 
upon  the  table.  I  shall  need  your  co-operation. 
'They'  are  a  gang  of  the  most  expert  and  ex 
perienced  and  dangerous  thieves  in  the  whole 
civilized  world.  Before  the  war  they  operated 
principally  in  Europe — in  England  and  on  the 
Continent — and  they  have  very  recently  trans 
ferred  their  activities  to  this  country  and 
region.  The  gang  was  broken  up  two  years 
before  the  war,  and  its  principal  heads  were 
killed,  but  a  pair  of  subordinate  ones  have 
managed  to  gather  up  some  of  the  remnants 
and  started  in  to  work  again." 

"And  who  are  you?"  Diana  asked. 

"My  name  is  John  Henry  Dorsey,  and  I  am 
at  this  moment  an  acting  inspector  of  the  secret 
police,  with  all  due  authority.  That  is  not 
my  profession,  but  merely  to  execute  a  special 
commission  for  which  I  have  been  deputized." 

Diana's  violet  eyes  opened  very  wide.  She 
stared  at  him  a  good  deal  as  Aladdin  might 


174 THE    PEDDLER 

have  stared  at  the  genii  which  appeared  on  his 
rubbing  the  lamp. 

"Thank  God!"  she  gasped.  "Then  you're 
not  a  peddler  at  all.  I  might  have  guessed. 
I've  been  a  fooL" 

He  smiled. 

"In  thinking  that  I  stole  the  Sultana  and 
committed  those  other  robberies?  Scarcely 
that,  Miss  Kirkland.  After  having  seen  me 
watching  the  marquise  that  day  and  knowing 
my  mechanical  skill  and  that  I  had  the  entree 
everywhere  throughout  the  countryside,  and 
was  beloved  of  all  the  dogs,  you  could  scarcely 
think  otherwise." 

"Then  you  knew  that  I  saw  you!"  Diana 
cried. 

"I  would  have  had  to  be  a  very  poor  police 
man  not  to  see  you  back  by  the  bus.  I  was 
very  glad  to  know  that  you  were  there  and  saw 
me." 

"Why?" 

"Because  I  reasoned  that  it  would  relieve 
your  mind  to  feel  that  you  had  something  which 
might  be  brought  forward  for  your  brother's 
defense  in  case  of  his  arrest.  Of  course  I  had 
not  the  slightest  intention  of  letting  him  be 
arrested — but  you  did  not  know  that." 

"I  think  I  can  guess  who  'they'  are." 


THE    PEDDLER 175 

"Ah,  but  I  gave  you  a  tip  about  the  Melton 
girl." 

1  'Then  it  is  these  French  people?" 

"They  are  not  French.  The  so-called  de 
Vallignacs  are  members  of  the  old  gang  I  men 
tioned.  The  girl  Patricia  is  a  sort  of  criminal 
phenomenon  of  cunning  and  strength  and 
beauty  whom  we  have  yet  to  catalogue.  She 
is  the  one  who  will  probably  turn  the  trick 
to-night  as  the  result  of  some  information  which 
I  framed  up  for  her  this  morning.  Really,  Miss 
Kirkland,  she  is  not  at  all  an  ordinary  mortal. 
I  doubt  that  she  is  quite  human.  This  had 
been  told  me,  but  I  did  not  believe  it  until 
to-day.  It  is  true.  She  belongs,  I  actually 
believe,  to  some  sort  of  intermediary  world — the 
elfin,  wicked-fairy,  evil-sprite,  vampire  world, 
which  sensible  people  deny  the  existence  of  and 
intellectual  folks  are  not  quite  sure  about." 

A  little  shudder  rippled  through  Diana. 

"Then  I  must  be  an  'intellectual/  because 
she  made  me  feel  that  way  from  the  moment 
of  my  meeting  her.  I  had  come  to  that  very 
same  conclusion  when  you  warned  me  about 
her.  Yet  other  people  don't  seem  to  feel  it. 
Most  of  the  men  are  crazy  about  her.  Even 
James,  who  is  rather  a  misogynist,  was  begin 
ning  to  sit  up  and  take  notice." 


176 THE    PEDDLER 

"If  she  inspired  everybody  as  she  does  us 
she  would  not  be  very  dangerous,"  said  the 
peddler.  He  raised  his  hand  warningly.  "Lis 
ten." 

Just  after  passing  the  Kirkland  gates  the  road 
took  a  bend  so  that  the  peddler's  van  could  not 
be  seen  from  the  entrance  to  the  estate.  There 
came  now  through  the  breathless,  sultry  air  the 
hum  of  a  smoothly  running  motor-car  which 
slowed,  horned,  and  could  then  be  heard  enter 
ing  the  grounds.  It  reached  the  door,  appar 
ently,  then  came  to  a  stop. 

"Speaking  of  the  devil,"  said  the  peddler — 
"there  is  our  dear  friend  Stephan  now.  He 
has  dropped  in  for  a  little  chat.  Where  are  all 
your  people?" 

"Father  has  gone  to  town  and  the  boys  are 
probably  swimming,  as  the  tide  is  right  and 
it's  so  beastly  close." 

1 '  Then, "  said  the  peddler, ' '  Stephan's  little  job 
will  be  easy.  I  don't  know  precisely  what  it  is, 
but  by  a  simple  process  of  deduction  I  should  say 
that  it  had  to  do  with  the  business  of  to-night. 
Patricia  has  probably  sent  him  in  an  effort  to 
get  one  of  your  pistols  or  rifles  or  something  to 
indicate  that  his  death  is  due  to  suicide." 

Diana  stared  at  him,  unable  to  believe  that 
his  words  were  to  be  taken  seriously. 


THE    PEDDLER 177 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  the  Melton 
girl  really  intends  to  make  an  attempt  on 
William's  life?" 

"She  does,  unless  I  am  very  much  mistaken. 
So  far  as  any  scruple  is  concerned,  I  am  sure 
that  she  would  cheerfully  asphyxiate  you  all 
in  your  beds  if  she  felt  it  would  make  her  own 
position  any  more  secure.  You  see,  Miss 
Kirkland,  they  had  counted  on  the  Marquise 
d'Irancy's  accusing  William,  and  she  has  done 
nothing  of  the  sort;  nor  have  any  of  the  other 
victims  of  these  people's  clever  burglaries 
brought  any  charge  against  William  at  all. 
These  thieves  intended  that  William  should  be 
the  scapegoat,  and,  having  learned  of  his  social 
habit  of  visiting  variously  and  about  his  irreg 
ular  way  of  living,  they  cunningly  managed 
so  that  every  house  plundered  was  one  where 
William  happened  to  be  stopping  at  the  time." 

Diana  nodded. 

"But  the  theft  of  the  Sultana?  That  must 
have  been  pure  accident." 

"It  was  an  accident  that  the  marquise  fainted 
when  alone  with  William,  but  it  was  one  by 
which  Patricia  was  quick  to  profit  as  soon  as 
she  learned  what  had  occurred.  It  warranted 
her  taking  the  chance  to  get  the  jewel  before 
the  marquise  had  discovered  her  loss.  Just 


178 THE    PEDDLER 

how  she  managed  it  I  don't  know,  but  as  she  is 
a  creature  of  uncanny  physical  strength  the 
chances  are  that  while  walking  back  to  the  house 
with  the  marquise,  possibly  with  her  arm  about 
her  shoulders,  she  merely  took  the  locket  in  her 
hand  and  opened  it." 

"How  do  you  know  that  the  locket  was  so 
hard  to  open?"  Diana  asked. 

The  peddler  laughed. 

"I  knew  about  the  lockets  before  ever  I  saw 
the  marquise,"  said  he.  "Miss  Melton  prob 
ably  did  not.  She  guessed  their  use.  The 
intuition  of  such  folks  as  she  is  incredible,  and 
unless  the  character  is  fundamentally  good  it 
is  most  apt  to  lead  its  possessor  into  crime, 
because  he  or  she  finds  it  so  easy  to  outwit 
ordinary  people.  It  is  almost  as  though  one 
had  the  gift  of  invisibility  or  actual  clairvoy 
ance." 

"And  yet  you  have  fooled  her,"  said  Diana. 

"I  think  so.  That  was  my  sole  object  in 
becoming  a  peddler.  To  deceive  such  hyper- 
acute  intelligences  one  must  first  be  able  to 
deceive  oneself  in  regard  to  his  assumed  per 
sonality.  I  had  to  make  myself  believe  that  I 
was  Clamp,  the  laughing,  singing,  philosophic 
peddler  and  tinker  and  jack-of-all-trades.  I 
had  to  practise  this  intense  auto-delusion  in 


THE    PEDDLER 179 

order  that  she  should  get  nothing  from  me  by 
repercussion." 

"You  certainly  put  it  over,"  said  Diana, 
fervently. 

"I  hope  so.  For  the  ordinary  criminal  mind 
or  that  of  the  average  political  intrigante  an 
ordinary  peddler  rdle  would  have  served  the 
purpose,  but  for  these  werewolves  it  needed 
something  daring;  a  self-advertisement  so 
outre  as  to  bar  the  door  of  their  brains  from 
suspicion,  for  in  such  cases  conviction  is  not 
necessary.  The  first  whiff  of  suspicion  and 
the  game  is  up.  But  scarcely  any  head,  how 
ever  criminally  astute,  could  contain  at  the 
same  time  the  ideas  of  sleuth  and  of  a  roaring, 
snorting,  coughing,  clanging  motor-truck,  hung 
with  oil-stoves  and  dishpans,  plow  and  anchor 
chains,  that  could  be  heard  approaching  three 
miles  away." 

Diana  laughed.  Such  was  the  sense  of  secu 
rity  inspired  by  the  personality  of  the  peddler 
that  she  felt  as  though  all  her  troubles  were 
over,  that  the  black  pall  was  already  lifted 
from  her  house. 

"One  hears  of  wonderful  camouflage,"  she 
began;  but  the  peddler  raised  his  hand  pro- 
testingly. 

"My  dear  Miss  Kirkland,"  said  he,  "it  was 


i8o THE    PEDDLER 

anything  but  that.  Camouflage  is  the  mimicry 
of  nature,  and  my  uproarious  old  bus  is  unlike 
anything  in  heaven  or  earth.  That  is  the 
beauty  of  it — the  distracting  feature  of  it." 

"And  so  were  you,"  said  Diana. 

"The  joke  of  it  is,"  said  the  peddler,  "that  as 
a  purely  commercial  proposition  it  has  been  a 
tremendous  success." 

"I  think,"  said  Diana,  "that  the  same  would 
be  true  of  anything  you  undertook." 

He  didn't  seem  to  hear — appeared  to  be  lis 
tening — and  at  that  moment  they  heard  Ste- 
phan's  car  passing  out  of  the  Kirkland  place. 
It  struck  the  highway  and  hummed  off  like  a 
homing  bee. 

Then  as  its  vibration  ceased  they  looked  at 
each  other,  and  as  their  eyes  met  there  occurred 
one  of  those  repercussions  just  mentioned  by 
the  peddler.  Perhaps  the  nervous  tension  of 
the  moment  had  made  them  hypersensitive, 
for  if  eyes  are  the  windows  of  the  soul,  then  these 
two  pairs  were  in  that  second  like  wide-open 
French  ones  which  swing  outward  as  doors, 
permitting  an  intimate  view  of  whatever  is 
within.  It  is  probable  that  each  saw  the  other's 
treasure-house  and  perhaps  some  beautiful  and 
startled  inmate  not  yet  ready  for  presentation. 
At  any  rate,  it  must  have  been  a  rather  bewilder- 


THE    PEDDLER 181 

ing  denouement,  and  one  for  which  each  felt 
the  present  crisis  to  be  premature,  for  Diana 
drew  the  curtains  of  her  long  lashes,  her  face 
a  crimson  glow,  while  the  peddler  turned  his 
tan  face,  through  which  a  swarthy  flush  was 
burning  its  way,  and  stared  down  a  vista  of 
the  trees  at  the  tarnished  aluminum  waters 
of  the  bay. 

"You  must  understand,  Miss  Kirkland,"  said 
he,  in  an  even  voice,  "that  it  would  be  of  incal 
culable  value  to  these  bandits  if  William  should 
be  found  to  have  committed  suicide.  Knowing 
his  nature,  such  an  act  would  be  taken  as  a 
clear  admission  of  guilt,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding 
further  disgrace." 

"Of  course,"  said  Diana;  "but  I  do  not  see 
how  they  could  possibly  hope  to  manage  it." 
She  straightened  up  suddenly  and  looked  at  the 
peddler  with  violet  eyes  which  had  suddenly 
grown  black.  This  threat  on  her  brother's 
life,  instead  of  frightening  the  girl,  roused  in  full 
volume  the  Kirkland  fighting  spirit,  never  far 
below  the  surface.  "If  they  think  that  all 
they've  got  to  do  is  to  walk  up  and  knock 
William  on  the  head  as  if  he  were  a  silly  sheep, 
let  them  go  ahead  and  try  it.  I  suppose  that 
they  might  ambush  him  from  behind  a  tree, 
but  if  they  did  that  they'd  never  get  away  with 


i82 THE    PEDDLER 

it.  Some  of  us  would  hear  the  shot  and  take 
their  trail  with  the  dogs." 

"They  have  probably  considered  all  that," 
said  the  peddler.  "It  is  not  their  object  merely 
to  assassinate  William.  That  would  do  them 
more  harm  than  good.  Unless  they  can  see 
their  way  to  manage  the  job  so  cleverly  that  the 
coroner  will  be  obliged  to  bring  a  verdict  of 
suicide  they  will  not  tackle  it  at  all.  But  I'm 
very  much  convinced  that  my  frame  will  fit  their 
little  picture  very  nicely." 

"Your  farm?" 

"Yes.  The  bogus  information  I  furnished 
Patricia  early  this  afternoon  while  doing  a  little 
job  in  the  house.  It  did  not  take  the  mind  of  a 
Machiavelli  to  see  what  she  was  hungry  for, 
and  I  fed  it  to  her  in  good  measure.  She  thinks 
also  that  she  will  have  to  act  quickly,  as  I  re 
marked  that  you  were  planning  to  take  William 
to  a  sanitarium  within  the  next  day  or  two.  And ' ' 
— he  glanced  at  the  sky — "she  could  not  possibly 
have  a  better  night  for  her  little  spree.  It  will  be 
black  and  sultry  and  undoubtedly  followed  by 
rain  to-morrow  morning  early.  There  is  an 
easterly  storm  brewing.  Yes,  Miss  Kirkland,  I 
feel  almost  as  sure  that  the  attempt  will  be  made 
to-night  as  I  do  that  it  will  clear  things  up  for 
all  of  us.  But  I  shall  need  your  assistance." 


THE    PEDDLER 183 

He  appeared  to  reflect  for  a  moment  while 
Diana  watched  him,  scarcely  breathing.  She 
had  the  curious  sense  of  being  with  a  stranger, 
a  man  whom  she  had  never  previously  met, 
but  of  whom  she  had  caught  a  glimpse  in 
passing.  Or  it  was  rather  as  though  he  were 
the  twin  brother  of  some  man  whom  she  had 
known. 

He  glanced  at  her  with  a  nod. 

"This  is  what  I  want  you  to  do.  Lock  up 
all  the  dogs  before  it  gets  dark,  and  just  after 
nightfall  bring  down  to  the  hydroplane  hangar 
one  of  your  brother  William's  white-flannel 
suits,  a  sweater  or  football  jersey,  and  the  white- 
felt  hat  he  usually  wears.  Leave  these  things 
in  the  seat  of  the  machine  and  then  go  back 
to  the  house  and  stay  there." 

"Is  that  all?"  cried  Diana.  "Can't  I  stay 
and  watch?" 

"No.  I  want  you  to  stand  guard  over  your 
men-folks  to  make  certain  that  nobody  leaves 
the  house." 

"But  do  you  think  I  can  ever  keep  the  men 
bottled  up  like  that?" 

' '  You  must ! ' '  said  the  peddler,  firmly.  ' '  Any 
snooping  round  might  be  absolutely  fatal  to 
my  plan.  We  have  to  do  with  an  inhuman 

sensory  apparatus.    This  Patricia  girl  is  anom- 
13 


i_84 THE    PEDDLER 

alous — sui  generis.  I  doubt  if  one  could  find 
anything  just  like  her  in  any  of  the  annals  of 
crime.  Besides  her  flair,  as  the  French  would 
call  it,  she  is  a  phenomenon  of  physical  strength. 
She  could  take  prizes  as  a  strong  woman  in  a 
circus.  She  is  a  past  mistress  of  jiu-jitsu, 
swims  like  an  otter,  and  could  win  a  Marathon 
race.  Not  long  ago  she  came  within  one  grab 
of  putting  it  all  over  a  powerful  college  athlete 
named  Plunkett  who  tried  to  get  some  smuggled 
loot  away  from  her." 

Diana's  blue  eyes  opened  very  wide;  then 
she  nodded. 

"I  knew  that  she  was  a  splendid  athlete. 
I  took  her  on  for  tennis  one  day  and  she  put 
it  all  over  me,  and  I've  collared  a  few  cups 
myself.  She  seemed  to  get  across  the  court 
in  one  bound,  and  without  exerting  herself 
in  the  least — as  if  she  had  willed  herself  there. 
She  had  us  all  beaten  in  the  water,  too.  As 
Gerry  Metcalf  said,  she  reminded  him  of  an 
otter,  because  she  scarcely  left  a  ripple — as  if 
she  were  full  of  universal  joints." 

"It  seems  a  pity,"  said  the  peddler,  "that 
such  a  woman  should  be  destined  to  spend 
the  next  twenty  years  of  her  life  in  the  peni 
tentiary — but  then,  perhaps  she's  not.  We 
haven't  got  her  yet.  We  haven't  got  any  of 


THE    PEDDLER 185 

them  yet.  The  French  police  had  a  lot  of 
crimes  charged  up  to  the  Comtesse  de  Vallignac, 
which  is  not  her  name.  She  was  known  as 
L£ontine  and  worked  under  the  direction  of  a 
Pole  named  Ivan,  who  was  chief  of  a  swell  mob 
which  had  Europe  terrorized  for  a  number  of 
years.  But  they  could  never  put  her  under 
arrest." 

"Why  not?" 

"For  the  same  reason  that  it  is  often  impos 
sible  to  arrest  a  big  promoter  or  financier  of 
whose  crooked  methods  there  is  not  the  slight 
est  doubt.  Criminals  of  this  class  merely  plan 
and  direct.  The  work  itself  is  done  by  expert 
subordinates  who  have  the  nerve  and  skill, 
but  would  run  a  big  risk  of  being  killed  or 
captured  unless  assisted  by  these  principals, 
who  clear  the  way  and  cover  their  tracks.  I 
could  have  nabbed  the  thieves  with  the  goods 
in  any  of  these  robberies,  that  of  your  own  safe 
included." 

"Why  didn't  you?" 

"Because  I  would  not  have  been  able  to 
prove  anything  on  the  principals  themselves. 
When  one  is  waiting  to  bag  an  elk  or  a  boar 
one  doesn't  shoot  at  a  weasel.  When  the  de 
Vallignacs  called  at  your  house  after  leaving 
Patricia  at  the  Metcalfs'  your  brothers  were 


i86 THE    PEDDLER 

down  at  the  hangar  working  at  the  hydroplane. 
Your  Chinese  butler,  Chang,  took  Leontine  and 
Stephan  down  there,  and  while  he  was  gone  the 
chauffeur,  Gustave,  slipped  in  and  opened  the 
safe  with  about  as  much  difficulty  as  I  might 
open  a  child's  penny  bank.  Of  course  I  guessed 
what  they  were  up  to,  but  it  was  no  part  of  my 
plan  to  catch  a  mere  cracksman.  I  have  not 
been  roaring  round  the  country  these  last  weeks, 
selling  things  and  mending  things  and  cramming 
my  head  with  maxims  and  epigrams,  for  that. 
The  French  police  warned  us  that  there  was  no 
good  in  nailing  any  of  these  underlings.  They 
have  never  been  known  to  peach." 

"But  don't  you  run  a  great  risk  of  losing 
everything  by  waiting?" 

The  peddler  smiled. 

"The  risk  is  not  precisely  mine,"  said  he, 
"and  I  have  been  willing  to  take  a  chance  on 
the  property  of  the  rest  of  you  to  protect 
society  against  a  very  great  danger.  It's  going 
to  be  a  hard  job.  These  birds  are  terribly  wary. 
They  are  not  like  the  criminals  we  have  had 
to  deal  with  over  here.  In  America  we  think 
of  a  cracksman  and  burglar  as  a  low-browed 
brute  with  a  pistol  and  a  jimmy,  cunning  as  a 
prowler  and  with  high-grade  manual  dexterity, 
but  low-grade  actual  intelligence.  That  is  be- 


THE    PEDDLER 187 

cause  in  this  country  a  thief  intelligent  enough 
to  defy  the  law  does  not  crack  safes.  He  goes 
in  for  high  finance  or  politics  or  something  that 
offers  a  wider  scope  for  his  talents.  The  plun 
dering  of  mere  loot  on  an  elaborate  scale  is  an 
archaic  institution  which  belongs  to  Europe  or 
the  Orient.  In  the  present  case  a  focus  of  this 
European  infection  has  been  planted  over  here. 
I  have  no  great  fear  of  being  able  to  recover 
what  has  been  lost  through  its  ravages,  but 
whether  or  not  I  can  isolate  the  microbes  is 
quite  a  different  matter." 

"I  wish  that  I  could  really  help,"  said  Diana. 

"You  can — by  doing  what  I  ask.  Don't 
tell  your  family  any  more  than  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  keep  them  in  bounds.  The  mere 
opening  of  a  door  might  upset  my  plans — a 
flood  of  light  or  sudden  loud  voices.  On  the 
other  hand,  don't  darken  the  house  or  do  any 
thing  out  of  the  customary.  You  may  tell 
William,  if  you  like,  that  his  innocence  is  per 
fectly  well  known  to  the  authorities,  and  that 
his  name  will  soon  be  cleared  of  all  suspicion. 
Now  I  must  go." 

Diana  reached  out  both  hands  and  looked 
at  him  with  brimming  eyes.  It  was  the  first 
time  since  her  rescue  that  she  had  offered  the 
peddler  her  hand,  and  now  she  tendered  both, 


i88 THE    PEDDLER 

and  if  the  truth  were  known  a  good  deal  more 
besides.  But  the  peddler  merely  caught  them 
for  an  instant,  gave  them  a  slight  reassuring 
squeeze,  let  them  fall,  tugged  at  his  beret, 
turned  on  his  heel,  and  strode  off  toward  his 
van. 

Diana  watched  him  disappear  behind  the 
wall,  then  flung  herself  at  full  length  on  the 
aromatic  pine  needles,  buried  her  face  in  her 
crossed  arms,  and  gave  herself  passively  to  the 
rush  of  a  new  and  wonderful  emotion. 


Chapter  XIV 

A^  hour  before  dark  the  peddler  parked  at 
his  favorite  spot  in  the  Metcalf  meadow, 
to  which  he  felt  almost  a  squatter's  sovereignty. 
For  the  sake  of  appearances  he  rigged  his  tent, 
then  snatched  a  bite  to  eat  and  got  to  work. 

His  first  act  was  to  overhaul  his  motor-cycle 
and  make  sure  that  it  was  tuned  up  to  racing 
trim.  Next  he  plunged  into  his  store,  secured 
an  armful  of  oakum,  and  with  a  ball  of  fishline 
compressed  it  into  a  sphere  the  size  and  shape 
of  a  man's  head,  winding  it  like  the  inside  of  a 
baseball. 

The  weather  conditions  pleased  him  infinitely, 
being  such  as  at  that  season  usually  precede  a 
southeasterly  storm.  It  was  evident  that  the 
night  would  be  very  dark,  very  still,  and  that 
the  wind  and  rain  would  probably  hold  off  at 
least  until  daybreak  or  the  turn  of  the  tide, 
which  should  begin  to  flow  a  little  after  mid 
night. 

His  final  act  of  preparation  for  the  nocturnal 
stalk  ahead  was  to  put  on  a  pair  of  canvas 
sneakers  and  thrust  into  the  side  pockets  of  his 
blue-denim  blouse  a  pair  of  handcuffs,  a  small 


i9o  THE    PEDDLER 

automatic  pistol,  and  a  pocket  torch.  Then 
wheeling  his  tandem  motor-cycle  out  into  the 
road,  he  mounted  it  and  proceeded  rapidly  to 
the  spot  where  he  had  halted  his  truck  to  enter 
the  woods  and  watch  the  Marquise  d'Irancy. 

Here  he  left  the  machine  in  a  clump  of  laurel 
and,  making  his  way  to  the  lane,  passed  rapidly 
down  it  to  the  rear  of  the  Kirkland  grounds, 
where  he  struck  the  path  to  the  hangar,  a  large, 
low  building  with  a  flat  tin  roof.  The  door  was 
padlocked,  but  he  knew  where  the  key  was 
hidden.  Entering,  he  groped  his  way  to  the 
hydroplane,  on  the  seat  of  which  he  found  the 
white-flannel  costume,  jersey,  and  hat  left  by 
Diana.  He  had  previously  located  a  heap  of 
worn-out  boat  cushions  stuffed  with  kapok,  and 
one  of  these  he  dragged  outside,  where,  though 
it  was  already  dark,  there  still  lingered  sufficient 
light  upon  the  still  water  to  enable  him  to  carry 
on  his  task. 

Ripping  open  the  cushion,  he  proceeded  to 
stuff  the  football  jersey  with  kapok  until  it  had 
assumed  the  approximate  dimensions  of  its 
owner,  after  which  he  slipped  the  flannel  coat 
over  it.  When  the  trousers  were  similarly 
distended  he  carried  the  component  parts  of  his 
manikin  to  a  rustic  bench  under  a  pine-tree 
at  the  top  of  the  bank,  and  here  he  assembled 


THE    PEDDLER 191 

them,  securing  the  oakum  head  by  means  of  a 
few  sticks  worked  into  it  and  the  torso  beneath. 
No  great  manipulation  was  required  to  give 
the  dummy  the  perfect  simulacrum  of  a  dozing 
or  merely  dejected  form  such  as  that  of  William 
might  be  expected  to  portray.  Even  in  the 
heavy  murk  the  white  flannels  and  soft  white 
hat  were  easily  distinguished  from  a  consider 
able  distance. 

Having  thus  rigged  out  his  decoy,  the  peddler 
found  a  blind  already  provided  in  a  thick 
clump  of  laurel  directly  behind  the  bench.  He 
had  taken  the  precaution  of  blackening  his 
face,  and  now,  crouched  in  dark  foliage,  it  is 
doubtful  if  even  the  eye  of  an  Indian  would 
have  discovered  him  had  the  night  been-  a 
bright  instead  of  a  murky  one. 

And  here  he  waited  with  that  patience  which 
is  the  birthright  of  the  born  hunter — of  savage 
beasts  or  savage  men.  An  hour  passed.  The 
silence  was  so  intense  that  it  seemed  to  have  a 
ponderosity  augmented  by  the  oppressive  at 
mosphere.  Not  a  breath  of  air  stirred,  nor 
was  there  so  much  as  the  splash  of  a  wavelet 
on  the  beach.  From  far  in  the  distance  came 
such  sounds  as  are  to  be  heard  at  night  in  any 
populous  community — the  rumble  of  a  train, 
whistle  of  boat  or  locomotive,  whir  of  a  motor, 


192  THE    PEDDLER 

and  the  like.  But  these  seemed  only  to  accentu 
ate  the  breathless  stillness  of  immediate  sur 
roundings,  where  all  that  reached  the  hyper 
sensitive  ears  of  the  peddler  were  the  hissings 
in  the  rockweed  as  the  tide  fell  and  the  sudden 
scurry  of  some  little  woodsy  creature  going 
about  its  furtive  affairs. 

Then  a  great  barred  owl  from  the  depths  of 
the  park  boomed  out  to  frighten  the  sleeping 
birds. 

"Hoo!  Hoo!  Hoo-o-o-oo!"  a  cry  terminating 
in  the  peculiar  squawk  and  snapping  of  the 
beak.  The  peddler  feared  it  might  disturb 
the  dogs,  but  apparently  they  were  accustomed 
to  it,  and  Diana  had  fed  them  their  fill  to  pro 
mote  the  sleep  of  repletion. 

The  peddler  lay  upon  his  side,  every  sense 
alert,  and  it  did  not  seem  to  him  that  he  had 
been  there  very  long  when  he  knew  that  his 
vigil  was  destined  to  be  rewarded.  Up  from  the 
still  water  came  the  faint  thrill  of  a  rapidly 
revolving  motor,  of  which  his  trained  ear  was 
quick  to  recognize  the  beat.  Perhaps  his  eyes 
were  of  the  night  quality  or  possibly  the  heavy 
sky  had  actually  thinned  a  little,  for  it  seemed  to 
him  that  his  horizon  had  receded,  and  presently 
he  picked  up  the  long  dark  body  of  the  motor, 
boat  tearing  through  the  still  water  at  a  dis- 


THE    PEDDLER  193 

tance  of  about  four  hundred  yards,  its  phos 
phorescent  bow  wave  giving  it  distinct  location. 

It  passed  without  stopping  and  with  no 
apparent  alteration  in  its  speed,  and  this  cir 
cumstance  gave  the  peddler  its  peculiar  infor 
mation,  for  he  was  now  sure  that  he  had  to 
deal  with  the  most  sinister  and  stealthy  of 
the  band — that  strange,  inhuman  creature  who 
had  impressed  him  as  belonging  to  some  other 
dimension  of  matter  than  his  own,  to  the  'tween 
world,  that  realm  denied  by  most,  admitted 
by  some,  and  in  which  the  peddler  was  begin 
ning  to  believe.  It  was  the  werewoman, 
Patricia,  and  she  had  slipped  off  the  launch  at 
speed  and  was  swimming  in.  Of  this  the  ped 
dler  was  assured,  for  no  towing  boat,  however 
light,  could  have  been  cast  off  from  the  stern 
without  the  beat  of  the  motor  indicating  the 
relief  from  even  so  slight  a  strain.  Ordinary 
ears  might  not  have  detected  this,  but  those  of 
the  peddler  were  trained  to  the  sound  of 
machinery. 

His  first  consciousness  of  another  living 
presence  near  was  after  the  swell  from  the 
launch  had  splashed  upon  the  beach  and  the 
water  resumed  its  stagnant  calm.  Then  he 
caught  the  sheen  of  a  slight  disturbance,  a 
second  swell  scarcely  perceptible  and  not 


194 THE    PEDDLER 

made  by  the  motor-boat.  A  moment  later 
from  a  distance  of  perhaps  fifty  yards,  pos 
sibly  more,  in  that  telephonic  atmosphere  he 
heard  the  click  of  a  pebble  against  another. 
Followed  the  faintest  rustle  of  leaves,  and,  lay 
ing  his  ear  to  the  ground,  it  seemed  to  him 
that  he  could  distinguish  the  soft  padding 
of  a  tread  light  as  that  of  a  stalking  leopardess. 

Then  silence,  and  the  big  barred  owl  boomed 
again. 

Suddenly  a  dark  shape  was  silhouetted 
against  the  lighter  opacity  of  sky.  The  peddler 
saw  it  pause,  then  stoop  as  if  to  listen  or  peer 
beneath  the  low  branches  of  the  firs.  It  with 
drew  from  his  arc  of  vision.  A  dry  twig  snapped 
behind  him;  not  loudly,  but  with  the  dull  creak 
of  rotten  wood.  Silence  again — utter  and 
absolute.  He  did  not  dare  to  risk  a  backward 
glance.  He  knew  that  he  had  to  deal  with 
senses  as  keenly  alert  as  those  of  a  feral  beast; 
or,  more  than  that,  an  evil  sprite. 

Though  his  hearing  seemed  keyed  to  the 
delicacy  of  a  microtone,  it  told  him  nothing, 
but  he  seemed  to  feel  the  stealthy  approach 
from  the  rear,  to  be  subconsciously  aware  of 
its  circling  the  clump  of  laurel  in  which  he  was 
ambushed.  Then,  proving  this  to  be  a  fact, 
the  pine  carpet  gave  out  the  faintest  whispering 


THE    PEDDLER 195 

and  a  dark  body  loomed  so  close  that  he  could 
have  reached  out  his  hand  and  touched  a 
nether  limb.  It  stopped,  stood  for  an  instant 
as  if  waiting  for  a  summons. 

In  this  period  of  pause  the  peddler  heard 
the  distant  whir  of  'the  motor-boat  apparently 
returning.  It  reached  a  point  directly  opposite, 
not  far  offshore,  though  it  seemed  to  him  more 
distant  than  in  passing,  and  at  this  moment 
the  figure  moved  swiftly  forward  with  a  step 
so  gliding  and  silent  that  it  seemed  to  drift. 
As  the  dull  sheen  of  the  water  became  its  back 
ground  the  peddler  could  distinguish  the  flow 
ing  feminine  curves,  which  seemed  clothed  from 
head  to  foot  in  a  maillot  of  some  dark  material. 
He  saw  also  the  cord  which  dangled  from  one 
half-raised  hand,  and  immediately  he  under 
stood  the  murderous  stratagem. 

For  this  was  one  historic  classic  in  the  annals 
of  French  crime,  and  known  to  have  been  suc 
cessfully  practised  by  women  of  no  great 
strength  on  powerful  men  victims.  It  was 
such  as  gave  a  fatal  supremacy  to  the  assassin, 
once  the  turn  was  made.  Such  is  la  garrotte, 
the  strangler's  trick,  and  its  operation  is  to  get 
behind  the  victim,  pass  the  cord  about  the 
neck,  and  with  a  twist  of  the  hand  tighten  to  the 
point  of  suffocation,  then  hold  fast.  It  has 


196 THE    PEDDLER 

been  accomplished  with  a  silk  handkerchief  or 
stocking  or  a  woman's  long  glove.  It  is  swift 
and  sure,  stifling  outcry,  leaving  no  mark;  and 
the  position  of  the  aggressor,  directly  back  of 
the  victim,  lends  to  security. 

It  had  not  been  difficult  for  Stephan,  left 
for  a  few  moments  alone  while  Chang  went 
to  the  rear  of  the  house,  to  summon  the  Kirk- 
lands.  He  had  slipped  the  silken  cord  which 
held  back  the  portiere  and  jammed  a  bight  of 
the  portiere  itself  in  a  manner  to  secure  it  in 
place.  It  was  with  this  cord  that  Patricia  now 
proposed  to  garrote  her  scapegoat  and  after 
ward  to  suspend  his  lifeless  body  from  a  low 
bough.  Everything  semed  in  her  favor — the 
rustic  bench  and  the  character  of  the  tree 
above  it.  William  found,  thus  hanging,  the 
bench  capsized  as  though  kicked  over,  must 
needs  present  every  aspect  of  a  suicide,  while 
the  autopsy  showing  asphyxiation  could  leave 
no  room  for  doubt. 

Something  akin  to  admiration  flashed  through 
the  mind  of  the  peddler  as  it  leaped  to  an 
appreciation  of  its  subtlety.  It  was  worthy  of 
the  girl  Patricia.  And  then  like  a  flash  came 
the  denouement,  to  turn  grim  tragedy  into 
screaming  farce. 

He  saw  Patricia  swing  forward,  deftly  pass 


THE    PEDDLER 197 

the  cord,  then  give  a  twist  of  her  hand  as  she 
set  violently  backward.  But  instead  of  en 
countering  the  expected  tug  and  strain  against 
which  she  had  braced  herself,  the  dummy  head 
flew  off,  whereupon  Patricia,  her  backward 
tension  meeting  with  no  resistance  whatever, 
lost  her  balance  and  came  down  fairly  atop 
of  the  peddler,  from  whom  the  weight  of  her 
solid  body  knocked  a  stupendous  grunt. 

The  next  instant  he  had  gripped  her,  catch- 
as-catch-can,  and  for  a  moment  it  was  as 
though  two  wild  animals  of  the  jungle  were 
lashing  furiously  about,  the  one  striving  to  hold, 
the  other  to  escape.  And  escape  she  did, 
though  leaving  a  good  part  of  her  maillot  in  the 
peddler's  clutching  fingers.  She  sprang  to  her 
feet,  but  the  peddler  grabbed  one  ankle,  tripped 
and  seized  her  again,  and  for  the  next  few 
seconds  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  was  grappling 
with  some  automaton  of  animated  flesh  and 
operated  by  an  underlying  mechanism  of  steel 
springs  and  wires.  He  was  gouged  and  buf 
feted  about  the  head,  scratched  and  bitten  as 
though  wrestling  with  a  tigress  or  female  ape, 
received  an  all  but  knockout  blow  on  the  angle 
of  the  jaw,  constantly  compelled  to  shift  his 
slipping  grasp  of  her  for  a  fresh  and  better  hold. 
He  felt  her  teeth  fasten  in  his  forearm,  tried  to 


198 THE    PEDDLER 

get  her  by  the  throat,  missed  his  clutch,  and 
made  one  for  an  elbow  with  the  other  hand, 
this  time  succeeding,  but  only  to  feel  it  twist 
clear  and  brought  back  violently  against  his 
chin. 

It  staggered  him  a  little,  and  before  he  could 
clip  her  again  she  was  clear  of  his  arms,  writhing 
through  and  under  them  out  of  his  reach.  As 
he  scrambled  up  and  made  a  dive  at  her  knees, 
football  fashion,  determined  now  to  throw  and 
stun  her,  she  whisked  over  the  bank  and  landed 
on  the  shingle  ten  feet  below  with  a  scattering 
of  stones.  Though  he  came  crashing  down 
beside  her  in  time  to  fling  an  arm  about  her 
waist  she  had  wrenched  clear  before  he  could 
lock  it  with  the  other  and,  leaping  down  the 
beach,  the  black  water  took  her  flashing  body. 

The  peddler  plunged  after  her,  squattering 
in,  waist  deep,  then  flung  himself  headlong  to 
swim.  The  tide  was  within  half  an  hour  of 
the  ebb,  the  water  for  some  little  distance 
not  more  than  three  feet  deep,  too  shallow  to 
swim,  too  deep  to  wade,  and  the  peddler  made 
the  mistake  of  trying  to  combine  both  methods 
of  locomotion,  which  does  not  lend  itself  to 
speed.  Patricia  dived,  shot  along  the  bottom 
like  a  frog  for  fifty  feet,  and  broke  the  surface 
well  ahead  of  him  just  as  he  was  getting  into 


THE    PEDDLER  199 

his  stroke.  The  peddler  had  always  felt  him 
self  to  be  more  active,  relatively,  in  the  water 
than  on  the  land,  had  grown  up  alongshore,  was 
a  height-and-depth  diver  and  swimming  racer 
of  much  local  repute  down  Bay  Ridge  way, 
where  aquatics  are  the  principal  summer  sport. 
So  now  with  no  doubt  of  his  ability  to  overhaul 
her  he  rolled  on  his  side,  made  of  himself  a 
partial  submarine,  and  with  the  claw  stroke, 
at  which  he  was  adept,  proceeded  to  cut  down 
the  ten-yard  lead  gained  by  Patricia  while  he 
was  floundering  in  the  shallow  water. 

For  the  first  fifty  yards  he  gained,  cut  down 
the  distance  between  them  to  less  than  half, 
expected  any  moment  to  see  his  quarry  collapse 
under  the  terrific  strain  of  such  a  breathless 
sprint,  and  drift  into  his  arms  an  easy  prey. 
He  crept  up  a  little  closer,  felt  the  pulse  of  water 
driven  back  by  her  powerful  strokes,  and  as  he 
shot  ahead  felt  sure  that  he  must  find  her  ankle 
within  his  grasp. 

But  nothing  of  the  sort  occurred,  and,  glancing 
back  at  the  shore,  it  flashed  suddenly  across  the 
peddler's  mind  that  he  was  getting  dangerously 
far  away  from  it.  What  was  to  prevent  the 
launchman  from  starting  his  motor,  dashing 
in,  and  riddling  him  with  bullets?  To  be  sure, 

he  had  his  own  automatic  and  the  chances  were 
14 


200  THE    PEDDLER 

that  being  immersed  would  not  destroy  its 
efficacy;  nevertheless,  the  odds  would  be  in 
favor  of  the  person  or  persons  in  the  launch. 
And  all  at  once  he  doubted  that  he  could  catch 
Patricia  in  any  case.  Failing  to  do  so  in  the 
first  fifty-yard  sprint,  he  was  bound  to  admit 
defeat,  for  heavy  muscles  overtaxed  invariably 
tire  quicker  than  lithe  one,  because  of  the 
greater  amount  of  contractile  tissue  to  accumu 
late  waste  products.  The  peddler  knew  that 
he  was  tiring,  could  not  hold  the  pace,  in  a 
word  had  lost  the  match  from  start  to  finish 
and  might  as  well  acknowledge  it.  This  girl 
had  broken  each  of  his  holds,  maltreated  him 
at  a  dozen  bleeding-points,  squirmed  out  of  his 
arms,  beaten  him  to  the  water,  then  in  it. 

And  now,  like  the  siren  which  she  was,  her 
object  was  to  lure  him  farther  out,  when  a 
call  to  the  launch  would  bring  it  up  for  his 
destruction.  The  peddler  was  philosophic,  not 
profane,  but  as  he  realized  all  this,  some  classic 
invective  not  to  be  found  in  Aristotle,  Epictetus, 
or  Plato  gurlged  from  his  submerged  lips  and 
eddied  off  in  salty  spume. 

He  fetched  up  short,  spun  about,  and  started 
for  the  shore  with  a  long  but  restful  normal 
swimming  stroke. 

He   had   proceeded  twenty  yards,  perhaps, 


THE    PEDDLER 201 

when,  happening  to  glance  back,  he  received  a 
shock.  For  here  came  Patricia  after  him, 
and  she  was  coming  fast,  as  could  be  seen  from 
her  phosphorescent  bow  wave,  like  that  of  the 
launch.  She,  too,  was  employing  the  overhand 
stroke,  and  the  peddler  caught  the  flash  of  her 
gleaming  arm  as  it  rose  in  perfect  rhythm. 

For  a  moment  he  could  not  understand, 
failed  utterly  to  read  her  purpose.  And  then 
as  he  continued  to  watch  her  and  saw  that 
she  was  rapidly  lessening  his  lead,  this  suddenly 
dawned  upon  his  startled  consciousness. 

The  hunt  had  suddenly  reversed  itself.  It  was 
he  who  was  now  the  quarry  and  she  the  hunt 
ress.  Having  outwrestled  and  outswum  him,  she 
was  now  in  pursuit  with  the  amiable  object  of 
outlasting  him  beneath  the  surface — in  a  word, 
to  drown  him.  She  could  not  have  recognized 
him  for  the  man  of  massive  physique  which  she 
must  have  known  the  peddler  to  be.  No  doubt 
she  thought  him  some  clever  sleuth  who  had 
picked  up  an  accurate  clue  to  the  successful 
criminal  efforts  of  the  community,  traced  them 
to  their  source,  and  by  a  process  of  simple  reason 
ing  surmised  that  an  effort  might  be  made  to 
make  William  the  forever  silent  scapegoat. 

Thus  having  discovered  that  she  was  more 
than  a  match  for  this  dangerous  pursuer,  both 


202  THE    PEDDLER 

in  the  water  and  out,  it  had  suggested  itself  to 
Patricia's  vivid  brain  that  this  man  must  not 
escape,  that  possibly  he  had  kept  his  informa 
tion  to  himself,  and  that,  given  permanently  to 
the  sea,  a  very  present  peril  might  be  removed. 
So  here  she  came  hand  over  hand  to  remove  him, 
to  offer  him  a  sacrifice  to  Neptune,  who  ap 
peared  to  have  given  her  the  freedom  of  his 
domain. 

The  quality  of  fear  had  never  trespassed  in 
the  peddler's  heart,  except  perhaps  in  dreams, 
but  as  he  turned  and  watched  Patricia's  con 
fident  approach  a  shiver  that  was  not  caused 
by  the  chill  waters  of  the  bay  struck  through 
him.  This  was  less  physical  than  of  something 
eery  in  the  situation.  He  felt  as  though  about 
to  engage  in  a  life-and-death  struggle  with  a 
mermaid  or  siren  or  nixie  or  some  such  malicious 
denizen  of  the  deep  to  whom  the  brine  was  a 
native  medium  and  one  possessed  of  the  cold 
blooded,  relentless,  slippery  strength  of  eels 
and  fishes  and  mollusks,  and  the  like.  So  even 
while  common  sense  told  him  that  he  had  ab 
solutely  nothing  to  fear,  with  his  great  strength 
and  deep  lung  capacity,  that  it  was  ridiculous, 
pusillanimous  for  a  man  of  his  breadth  and 
brawn  to  dread  drowning  at  the  hands  of  this 
elfin  girl,  yet  it  was  with  a  foreboding  almost 


THE    PEDDLER 203 

superstitious  that  he  turned  and,  treading 
water,  waited  her  attack. 

This  came  stealthily,  as  might  have  been 
expected.  Within  ten  feet  of  him  she  dived, 
as  dives  an  otter  or  a  shark,  slipping  under 
with  no  disturbance,  and  a  second  later  he 
felt  himself  gripped  about  the  legs  and  drawn 
under.  He  was  ready  for  this — desired  it,  in 
fact — his  reason  telling  him  that  he  would 
certainly  be  able  to  outlast  her,  as,  aside  from 
amphibious  folks  like  native  pearl-divers,  he 
had  yet  to  find  his  match  in  underwater  time 
tests. 

So,  filling  his  lungs,  he  let  himself  sink,  and 
there,  a  fathom  or  two  deep,  the  real  struggle 
began.  It  seemed  to  the  peddler  that  he  had 
to  do  with  several  swimmers — Loreleis,  or 
Rhine-maidens,  smooth-skinned,  aquatic  creat 
ures  in  their  natural  element.  He  clutched 
her  by  her  bare  shoulders  and  tried  to  drag 
her  still  deeper  down,  counting  on  the  exhaustion 
of  the  pressure,  but  the  long  arms  writhed  up 
under  his  and  about  his  neck  like  the  tentacles 
of  an  octopus.  Then  as  if  by  mutual  consent 
they  both  rose  for  a  gasping  breath  or  two, 
clinched  and  sank,  the  peddler  renewing  his 
tactics  of  forcing  her  to  the  lower  depths.  But 
this  plan,  sound  in  theory — for  with  all  her 


204  THE    PEDDLER 

strength  her  lighter  feminine  structure  could 
not  have  withstood  the  pressure  like  his  mas 
sive  masculine  frame — was  impossible  of  prac 
tice,  because  to  gain  depth  with  the  lungs 
inflated  it  is  necessary  to  swim  down,  and  her 
clinging,  encircling  limbs  made  this  impossible, 
so  that  their  struggles  were  confined  to  the 
higher  level,  just  under  the  surface  and 
upon  it,  catching  a  lungful  of  air  as  opportunity 
offered. 

The  outcome  was  of  course  inevitable,  for 
no  girl,  however  strong  and  active  and  good  a 
swimmer,  could  cope  long  with  a  man  of  the 
peddler's  might  and  aquatic  abilities.  Realiz 
ing  this  and  the  ridiculous  amount  of  time  it 
was  taking  to  subdue  Patricia,  a  sudden  gust  of 
anger  possessed  him.  Several  times,  of  course, 
he  could  have  quickly  finished  the  bizarre 
struggle  by  a  heavy  blow,  but  his  manhood 
forbade.  He  was  determined  to  take  her  un 
hurt,  and  presently,  whirling  her  about,  he 
gripped  her  wrist  in  one  hand,  and  with  the  other 
drew  the  handcuffs  from  the  pocket  of  his 
blouse.  She  shot  downward  like  a  squid,  but 
he  sank  after  her,  snapped  on  one  of  the  man 
acles  and  squeezed  it  tight;  then,  a  fathom 
deep  and  directly  behind  her,  he  caught  her 
free  hand,  hauled  it  back  and  upward,  and 


THE    PEDDLER 205 

attached  the  other  wristlet  of  steel.  Then  her 
struggles  ceased  and  a  forceful  stroke  or  two 
brought  them  to  the  surface. 

"I've  got  you  now,  you  witch!"  gurgled  the 
peddler. 

She  did  not  answer.  The  lithe,  half-naked 
body  went  suddenly  limp  like  that  of  a  drowned 
person.  He  thought  she  had  lost  consciousness, 
and,  taking  her  under  the  arm,  he  turned  her 
on  her  back  and  started  to  tow  her  slowly 
ashore,  finding  it  necessary  to  support  her 
head  above  the  surface.  For  about  a  hundred 
yards  they  proceeded  in  this  way,  the  peddler 
blowing  like  a  grampus  to  recover  his  wind, 
Patricia  supine,  inert,  trailing  after  him  like  a 
band  of  algae. 

Within  fifty  yards  of  the  shore  the  arm 
supporting  her  grew  cramped,  and  he  released 
his  hold  for  an  instant  to  stretch  it.  There 
was  a  sudden  swirl  in  the  water,  the  violent 
thrust  of  a  foot  against  his  thigh,  and  he  whirled 
about  to  see  her  in  full  flight,  foaming  seaward, 
hand  over  hand,  free,  unhampered,  reanimated, 
fresh  apparently  as  ever  after  her  brief  period 
of  relaxation. 

The  peddler  stared  after  her  in  stupefaction. 
Too  late  he  realized  that  she  had  baffled  him 
again,  played  'possum  while  she  slipped  her 


2o6  THE    PEDDLER 

manacles,  resting  and  waiting  for  the  oppor 
tunity  which  she  knew  must  come. 

And  as  he  watched  her  streaking  out  with  a 
trail  of  phosphorescence  in  her  wake  he  heard 
a  mocking  laugh,  and  a  clear  voice  cry,  "A  moi, 
Jean!'1 

A  thrum  of  the  motor  answered  her.  The 
peddler  turned  and  swam  slowly  for  the  shore. 


Chapter  XV 

all  the  virtues,  the  most  difficult,  perhaps, 
is  that  of  obedience  to  recognized  author 
ity.  Diana  had  intended  to  obey  implicitly 
the  peddler's  instructions.  At  least  she  told 
herself  she  had,  but  there  may  have  been  per 
haps  a  subconscious  reservation. 

Raising  herself  at  length  from  the  bosom  of 
Mother  Earth,  to  whom  she  had  been  confiding 
silently  a  most  momentous  secret,  she  returned 
to  the  house,  where  she  found  her  father  and 
brothers  assembled  in  the  library  moodily  dis 
cussing  the  peddler's  presence  somewhere  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  and  speculating  on  what 
it  might  portend.  For  there  was  this  about  the 
peddler's  movements:  that  on  a  still  day  such 
as  this  everybody  within  a  radius  of  a  mile 
knew  when  he  was  in  motion,  when  he  stopped, 
and  when  he  started  again. 

So  when  Diana  entered  they  looked  up  at 
her  with  a  sort  of  aggressive  expectancy.  The 
suspense  of  the  last  fortnight  had  weighed 
heavily  upon  this  brood  of  ungovernables. 
They  had  taken  the  peddler's  word  for  what 
they  judged  to  be  its  worth,  which  was  con- 


208  THE    PEDDLER 

siderable.  There  was  that  about  him  which 
impressed  even  such  recalcitrant  natures  as 
theirs,  and,  following  his  directions,  had  tried 
to  lead  their  customary  lives,  though  with  in 
different  success. 

Naturally  they  had  discussed  and  disputed 
over  the  true  identity  of  the  peddler  and  his 
part  in  the  bewildering  coil  until  there  was 
nothing  more  to  say,  no  theory  to  advance 
which  had  not  been  fought  over  to  a  finish. 
Yet  none  had  hit  upon  the  true  solution,  be 
cause  there  seemed  no  point  of  departure  from 
which  a  precise  landfall  could  be  made.  As 
the  peddler  had  told  Diana,  the  mind  could  not 
compass  the  idea  of  a  secret  policeman  going 
about  his  covert  affairs  in  a  roaring,  ramping 
motor-bus,  which,  aside  from  its  own  racket, 
made  its  proprietor  the  most  conspicuous  and 
widely  advertised  individual  in  the  region. 
A  year  of  such  publicity  and  Clamp  might 
have  run  successfully  for  Congress. 

It  had  finally  simmered  down  to  an  agree 
ment — which  only  occurred  when  there  was 
nothing  left  to  argue  about — that  the  peddler 
was  a  quaint  and  curious  eccentric  of  mingled 
sense  and  nonsense,  who  in  his  intercourse 
throughout  the  community  had  stubbed  his 
toe  upon  something  to  convince  him  that  an 


THE    PEDDLER  209 

organized  gang  of  thieves  had  been  at  work 
and  it  was  possible  that  he  had  furnished  the 
police  with  certain  data  to  prevent  the  arrest 
of  William  on  suspicion.  He  might  also  have 
caused  the  marquise  to  be  advised  to  remain 
silent  pending  official  investigation. 

Nevertheless,  the  suspense  was  wearing  out 
their  nerves,  normally  of  high  tension.  They 
could  not  help  but  feel  the  misgivings  of  their 
friends  and  neighbors,  and  their  patience  was 
rapidly  becoming  exhausted.  Any  sort  of 
climax  or  denouement  seemed  preferable  to 
this  watchless  waiting,  wherefore  at  sight  of 
Diana's  flushed  cheeks  and  burning  eyes  they 
had  some  difficulty  in  restraining  what  they  felt 
to  be  an  unmanly  eagerness  for  news. 

The  squire  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"Well,  daughter,"  he  growled,  "has  that 
confounded  peddler  anything  to  report?" 

Diana  had  a  short,  sharp  struggle  to  obey 
instructions. 

"Nothing  positive,"  she  answered,  "but 
there's  something  in  the  wind.  He  wants  you 
all  to  stay  in  the  house  after  dark  to-night,  and 
he  told  me  to  see  that  the  dogs  were  shut  up 
in  the  kennels." 

"He  be  hanged!"  growled  William.  "I'm 
getting  fed  up  on  all  this  mysteriousness." 


210 THE    PEDDLER 

"If  you  don't  do  as  he  says  you  may  spoil 
everything." 

"But  why  should  everything  happen  here 
on  our  place?"  demanded  James.  "They've 
cleaned  out  the  safe.  What  the  deuce  more 
do  they  want?" 

"Unless  you  promise  me  not  to  leave  the 
house  after  dark  I  shall  not  tell  you,"  said 
Diana.  "And  if  you  won't  promise  and  do 
leave  it  after  dark  you  may  ruin  the  chance  of 
catching  the  real  thieves." 

But  with  infuriating  obstinacy  the  brothers 
refused  absolutely  to  promise.  It  was  a  tradi 
tion  in  the  family  that  a  promise  made  must, 
for  good  or  ill,  be  blindly  kept,  and  for  this 
reason  they  made  it  a  point  never  at  any  time 
to  promise  anybody  anything.  They  may  be 
said  to  have  pledged  themselves  never  to  make 
a  pledge.  This  it  was,  if  the  truth  were  known, 
that  had  prevented  Gwendolyn  Metcalf  from 
engaging  herself  to  marry  William,  because  he 
would  not  promise  to  correct  his  habits.  Simi 
larly,  it  had  on  two  occasions  interfered  with 
certain  matrimonial  ambitions  on  the  part  of 
James,  for-  which  he  was  subsequently  very 
glad.  But  his  promise  to  his  sister  he  felt 
to  be  quite  warranted  as  a  sort  of  votive  cove 
nant  for  her  sake,  not  his  own,  while  William's 


THE    PEDDLER 2i_i 

had  been  made  similarly,  for  the  sake  of  the 
family  honor. 

Knowing  the  temperament  of  her  brothers 
and  that  if  she  were  to  tell  them  that  the  peddler 
expected  an  attempt  to  be  made  on  William's 
life  that  night  and — as  Diana  thought — pro 
posed  to  impersonate  him  for  the  sake  of  catch 
ing  the  potential  assassin  in  the  act,  no  power 
under  heaven  would  keep  her  brothers  from 
ambushing  themselves  to  see  the  sport.  Diana 
was  in  a  quandary,  for  to  tell  them  nothing 
would  be  to  risk  their  doing  a  little  stalking 
of  their  own,  which  would  be  even  worse. 
William  had  struck  a  sympathetic  note  in 
growling  at  the  peddler's  officiousness,  and  the 
twins  were  quick  to  take  it  up. 

' '  If  there's  anything  going  to  be  pulled  off  here 
to-night,"  said  Donald,  "I  want  to  be  in  on  it." 

"Moi,  aussi"  said  David. 

"I  don't  see  how  it  could  do  any  harm  to 
post  a  few  efficient  sentries,"  snapped  James. 
" We're  all  soldiers  and  sailors  here." 

Donald  fired  a  shot  in  the  dark. 

"Do  they  want  to  try  to  make  a  getaway 
in  the  flying-boat,  now  that  they've  seen  us  in 
the  air?", 

Diana's  quick  wit  seized  avidly  on  this 
suggestion. 


212  THE    PEDDLER 

'"Sh!"  she  whispered.  "You've  said  it, 
Don.  They've  pumped  the  peddler  about  it, 
not  knowing  that  he  was  on;  and  he's  told 
them  that  he'd  got  it  tuned  up  at  last  and  that 
it  was  good  for  five  hundred  miles  if  properly 
handled.  One  of  them  is  an  ex-army  aviator. 
Clamp  will  have  his  trap  well  set.  All  the 
help  he  needs  from  you  is  that  you  stay  right 
here  in  this  room." 

"Nix  on  that!"  said  Donald. 

"Then  it's  all  off,"  said  Diana,  angrily. 
"Don't  you  see,  silly,  that  they  will  have  some 
body  looking  in  a  side  window  to  keep  tabs 
on  you;  to  see  that  you  are  all  present  and 
accounted  for?  If  one  of  you  is  absent  they 
might  be  afraid  to  tackle  it." 

Mr.  Kirkland  nodded. 

"That's  reasonable,"  said  he.  "You'll  have 
to  leave  it  to  the  peddler,  boys." 

"You  see,  my  dears,"  said  Diana,  closely 
following  up  the  advantage  thus  gained, ' '  Clamp 
got  next  to  this  thing  in  his  gossiping  round, 
and  has  wised  up  the  police.  They've  got  a 
cordon  round  this  pair  of  crooks  by  land  and 
water,  and  the  hydroplane  looks  to  them  like 
the  fire-escape  to  a  top-story  worker.  It's 
their  last  chance  to  beat  it.  But  even  at  that, 
Clamp  says  they  wouldn't  take  the  chance  of 


THE    PEDDLER  213 

running  into  any  of  this  crazy  bunch,  so  you've 
all  got  to  sit  here  until  relieved." 

There  seeming  to  be  no  reasonable  cause  for 
refusal,  the  brothers  grumblingly  agreed,  in 
finitely  relieved  to  know  that  at  last  some 
action  might  be  expected.  Diana,  overjoyed 
at  the  use  to  which  she  had  turned  Donald's 
surmise,  proceeded  to  carry  out  the  first  part 
of  the  peddler's  instructions.  Collecting  the 
dogs  and  shutting  them  up  in  the  kennels,  she 
silenced  their  protests  with  a  heavy  supper. 
Then  slipping  up  to  William's  room,  she  made  a 
bundle  of  the  clothes,  wondering  what  the  ped 
dler  wanted  of  the  jersey  on  so  hot  a  night. 

But  even  while  so  doing  it  was  in  the  back 
of  her  brain  that  she  herself  was  entitled  to  a 
certain  concession.  Having  coerced  her  men- 
folks,  she  no  longer  had  the  slightest  intention 
of  missing  the  show  herself.  Wherefore  this 
disobedient  maiden  added  to  her  duplicity  by 
telling  the  family  that  she  had  been  invited  to 
dine  and  spend  the  night  at  the  Metcalfs',  and 
departed  while  it  was  still  light,  saying  that  she 
would  walk  over  through  the  lane. 

Out  of  sight  of  the  premises,  she  doubled  on 
her  tracks,  made  her  way  to  the  hangar,  where 
she  left  her  bundle,  and  then,  with  no  great 
difficulty  for  so  active  a  girl,  swarmed  up  on 


214 THE    PEDDLER 

the  flat  tin  roof  and,  spreading  out  a  golf  cape, 
stretched  herself  upon  it  and  waited  patiently 
for  whatever  might  befall.  She  reasoned  most 
femininely,  with  the  logic  of  the  peddler's  favor 
ite  philosopher,  that  if  none  of  the  actors  in 
the  prospective  drama  knew  of  her  presence 
there,  then  so  far  as  they  were  concerned  she 
was  not  there  at  all. 

Thus  it  was  that  throughout  the  peddler's 
cunning  preparations  of  his  decoy  two  bright 
big  eyes  were  watching  him  from  the  flat  tin 
roof  of  the  hangar.  These  same  bright  eyes 
saw  what  he  was  unable  to  perceive  immedi 
ately  after  the  passage  of  the  launch,  and  this 
was  a  luminous  streak  such  as  might  have 
been  left  by  the  passage  of  a  torpedo,  for  on 
such  a  dark  and  heavy  night  and  after  a  spell 
of  uncommonly  hot  weather  the  phospho 
rescence  becomes  most  brilliant.  Diana,  prone 
on  the  roof,  could  hear  the  tin  creaking  and 
buckling  under  her  bosom,  either  from  the 
drumming  of  her  heart  or  her  involuntary 
quickened  breathing.  In  that  tense  silence  she 
was  afraid  it  would  be  heard,  that  the  roof, 
acting  as  a  sounding-board,  a  drum-head  in  fact, 
her  excitement  might  make  a  racket  to  scare 
away  the  game,  and  she  wondered  what,  in 
such  case,  the  peddler  would  do  and  say  to  her. 


THE    PEDDLER  215 

Her  fears  for  his  safety  had  immediately 
vanished  on  discovering  that  his  plan  was  to 
use  William's  clothes  for  a  decoy,  instead  of 
putting  them  on  and  offering  himself  as  such. 
Diana  did  not  believe  that  there  was  a  man 
living  whom  the  peddler  need  fear  in  a  hand- 
to-hand  scrimmage,  especially  when  the  ad 
vantage  of  surprise  was  all  with  him.  But  if 
Patricia  should  indeed  prove  to  be  the  aggressor, 
it  seemed  to  Diana  that  the  stratagem  would 
be  purely  farcical,  as  the  idea  of  a  young  girl, 
no  matter  how  phenomenal  her  strength,  hoping 
to  overcome  or  escape  the  peddler,  once  within 
his  grasp,  was  ridiculous. 

Diana  did  not  see  Patricia  at  all  until  she 
appeared  moving  stealthily  up  to  the  bench, 
when  the  dark  figure  stood  out  for  an  instant 
against  the  sheen  of  water  in  a  slight  indenta 
tion  of  the  shore  beyond.  The  bench  was  just 
the  other  side  of  the  path  from  the  hangar,  and 
Diana  could  have  touched  the  marauder  with 
the  end  of  a  long  bamboo  fishing-pole.  She 
had,  therefore,  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the 
rounded  contour  of  a  woman's  figure,  and 
missed  no  detail  in  the  technic  of  the  murderous 
attempt,  which  left  her  undecided  whether  to 
shriek  with  horror  or  with  laughter. 

When  the  dummy  head  flew  off  and  Patricia 

15 


214  THE    PEDDLER 

the  flat  tin  roof  and,  spreading  out  a  golf  cape, 
stretched  herself  upon  it  and  waited  patiently 
for  whatever  might  befall.  She  reasoned  most 
femininely,  with  the  logic  of  the  peddler's  favor 
ite  philosopher,  that  if  none  of  the  actors  in 
the  prospective  drama  knew  of  her  presence 
there,  then  so  far  as  they  were  concerned  she 
was  not  there  at  all. 

Thus  it  was  that  throughout  the  peddler's 
cunning  preparations  of  his  decoy  two  bright 
big  eyes  were  watching  him  from  the  flat  tin 
roof  of  the  hangar.  These  same  bright  eyes 
saw  what  he  was  unable  to  perceive  immedi 
ately  after  the  passage  of  the  launch,  and  this 
was  a  luminous  streak  such  as  might  have 
been  left  by  the  passage  of  a  torpedo,  for  on 
such  a  dark  and  heavy  night  and  after  a  spell 
of  uncommonly  hot  weather  the  phospho 
rescence  becomes  most  brilliant.  Diana,  prone 
on  the  roof,  could  hear  the  tin  creaking  and 
buckling  under  her  bosom,  either  from  the 
drumming  of  her  heart  or  her  involuntary 
quickened  breathing.  In  that  tense  silence  she 
was  afraid  it  would  be  heard,  that  the  roof, 
acting  as  a  sounding-board,  a  drum-head  in  fact, 
her  excitement  might  make  a  racket  to  scare 
away  the  game,  and  she  wondered  what,  in 
such  case,  the  peddler  would  do  and  say  to  her. 


THE    PEDDLER 215 

Her  fears  for  his  safety  had  immediately 
vanished  on  discovering  that  his  plan  was  to 
use  William's  clothes  for  a  decoy,  instead  of 
putting  them  on  and  offering  himself  as  such. 
Diana  did  not  believe  that  there  was  a  man 
living  whom  the  peddler  need  fear  in  a  hand- 
to-hand  scrimmage,  especially  when  the  ad 
vantage  of  surprise  was  all  with  him.  But  if 
Patricia  should  indeed  prove  to  be  the  aggressor, 
it  seemed  to  Diana  that  the  stratagem  would 
be  purely  farcical,  as  the  idea  of  a  young  girl, 
no  matter  how  phenomenal  her  strength,  hoping 
to  overcome  or  escape  the  peddler,  once  within 
his  grasp,  was  ridiculous. 

Diana  did  not  see  Patricia  at  all  until  she 
appeared  moving  stealthily  up  to  the  bench, 
when  the  dark  figure  stood  out  for  an  instant 
against  the  sheen  of  water  in  a  slight  indenta 
tion  of  the  shore  beyond.  The  bench  was  just 
the  other  side  of  the  path  from  the  hangar,  and 
Diana  could  have  touched  the  marauder  with 
the  end  of  a  long  bamboo  fishing-pole.  She 
had,  therefore,  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  the 
rounded  contour  of  a  woman's  figure,  and 
missed  no  detail  in  the  technic  of  the  murderous 
attempt,  which  left  her  undecided  whether  to 
shriek  with  horror  or  with  laughter. 

When  the  dummy  head  flew  off  and  Patricia 
15 


218 THE    PEDDLER 

lemon  juice  through  a  squeezer.  I  had  hold  of 
her  three  times,  the  last  in  the  water,  where 
she  first  outpaced  me  and  then  had  the  nerve  to 
swim  back  and  try  to  drown  me.  I  got  the 
bracelets  on  her,  hands  ironed  behind  her  back, 
and  was  towing  her  in,  and,  by  jimmy!  she 
slipped  them  and  beat  it!  Look  at  my  face. 
She  bit  and  carved  her  autograph  on  me  and 
cleared." 

"Oh,"  cried  Diana,  "if  I  had  only  known!" 
"If  I'd  only  known  what  I  was  up  against 
I'd  have  brought  a  torpedo  net.    Well,  there's 
not  a  second  to  lose." 

He  drew  his  torch  from  his  pocket,  tried  it, 
found  it  in  working  order  and,  turning  on  his 
heel,  started  on  a  run  for  the  lane. 


Chapter  XVI 

'"FHE  powerful  torch  flashing  on  trees  and 
*  underbrush  made  swift  progress  possible. 
Striking  the  lane,  Diana  at  his  heels,  the  peddler 
broke  into  a  run.  Diana  was  not  sure  whether 
or  not  he  was  conscious  of  her  following  him, 
for  she  might  have  been  Torp  for  all  the  notice 
he  took  of  her.  She  knew  that  he  must  be 
furious  at  his  humiliating  failure,  while  her  own 
disobedience  of  his  strict  injunction  to  remain 
in  the  house  must  have  added  to  his  anger. 

Half-way  down  the  lane  he  struck  across  the 
open  woods,  Diana  still  following,  though  she 
could  not  have  told  just  why.  She  had  thrown 
her  pride  overboard,  as  the  captain  of  a  ship 
caught  aback  might  jettison  a  deckload  in  a 
squall.  She  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  to 
happen  next,  but  even  more  she  wanted  a  kind 
word,  or  to  say  one.  They  reached  the  edge 
of  the  road  and  the  torch  flashed  on  the  tandem 
motor-cycle. 

The  peddler  jerked  it  upright  and  started  to 
wheel  it  out  onto  the  highway. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  he  asked. 

"I  want  to  go  with  you.     I  can  ride  that 


220  THE    PEDDLER 

thing.  Please!  You  might  want  to  send  a 
message." 

"All  right.  Hop  on!  Perhaps  you're  right. 
I'm  not  so  infallible  as  I  thought/' 

Diana  mounted.  The  road  was  level  here, 
and,  running  the  machine  for  a  few  yards,  the 
peddler  started  the  motor,  leaped  into  his  seat, 
and  a  moment  later  they  were  tearing  along 
faster  than  Diana  had  ever  gone  over  the  road 
before.  The  broad  back  of  the  peddler  made 
her  a  windshield,  and  thus,  close  to  the  ground 
and  unable  to  see  ahead  with  the  pitchy  dark 
ness  rendering  objects  on  either  side  a  mere 
blur  as  they  whizzed  past,  Diana  felt  as  though 
she  were  sitting  astride  a  twelve-inch  shell  in 
full  flight. 

Evidently  there  was  desperate  need  of  haste. 
Diana  rightly  guessed  that  the  peddler  was 
racing  against  the  speed  launch  back  to  the 
de  Vallignacs'.  Doubtless  he  felt  that  with 
Patricia  knowing  their  operations  to  be  dis 
covered  the  criminal  band  might  take  its  flight. 

The  distance  by  water,  which  is  to  say  in  a 
straight  line,  was  about  eight  miles,  but  over 
the  road  it  was  easily  fourteen,  and  there  were 
some  dangerous  points  where  it  would  be  neces 
sary  to  slow  down.  Diana  knew  the  de  Val 
lignacs'  launch  to  be  very  swift,  and  it  seerred 


THE    PEDDLER  221 

to  her  that  their  chances  of  beating  it  were 
rather  poor.  Apparently  the  peddler  thought 
so,  too,  judging  from  the  pace  he  struck.  The 
first  short  spurt  of  two  miles  carried  them  to 
the  crest  of  Oak  Hill,  and  here  he  was  obliged 
to  slow  down  or  follow  James's  example  and 
land  the  motor-cycle  in  the  tree-tops. 

They  got  safely  to  the  bottom  and  hit  the 
steep  rise  opposite  at  a  speed  that  made  Diana 
feel  as  though  she  had  exchanged  the  twelve- 
inch  shell  for  a  mortar  bomb  of  high  trajectory, 
and  as  they  scurried  across  the  plateau  all 
coherent  thought  was  swept  away  in  the  rush 
of  air.  She  could  only  cling  and  pray  that  the 
hammering  machine  would  hold  together  and 
the  peddler  manage  to  keep  it  on  the  road. 
They  tore  through  the  town,  where  a  couple  of 
policemen  shouted  something  peremptory  and 
impolite,  and  of  which  the  final  clause  could 
not  catch  up  with  them.  The  railroad  crossing 
was  open  and  the  motor-cycle  hit  the  first 
track  and  jumped  the  rest.  Their  passage  of 
the  road  beyond  reminded  Diana  of  a  motion 
picture  worked  at  full  speed,  and  she  wondered 
dumbly  what  kept  the  fabric  under  her  from 
flying  apart  and  how  many  hundred  yards 
away,  and  in  how  many  different  pieces,  they 
might  pick  her  up  if  it  should. 


222  THE    PEDDLER 

Nevertheless,  she  was  not  actually  afraid. 
There  is  an  exhilaration  about  high  speed  which 
seems  to  deaden  the  centers  of  apprehension. 
Also,  despite  his  recent  failure,  she  had  infinite 
faith  in  the  squarely  framed  figure  against 
which  she  crduched.  She  was  actually  begin 
ning  to  enjoy  the  wild  ride  when  she  discovered 
that  they  had  struck  the  broad  avenue  on  which 
was  the  de  Vallignac  house.  The  peddler  cut 
off  the  motor  and  let  the  machine  run  silently 
past  it,  then  braked  in  front  of  the  place  adjoin 
ing.  He  got  down  and  assisted  Diana  to  alight. 

"Wait  here!"  said  he,  and  disappeared  in  the 
shrubbery. 

Diana  wheeled  the  motor-cycle  to  a  tree, 
against  which  she  leaned  it,  also  herself,  for  her 
head  was  whirling.  Two  or  three  people  passed 
and  gave  her  a  curious  stare  as  she  turned  her 
back  to  them. 

Then  a  policeman  crossed  the  road  and  came 
briskly  up  to  where  she  stood. 

"You're  under  arrest,"  said  he,  gruffly. 

"For  what?"  Diana  asked. 

"For  not  stopping  when  hailed  at  Fair's 
Crossing.  Breaking  the  speed  limit  by  about 
ninety  miles  an  hour.  Say,  you  must  have 
been  coming  some.  Where's  the  other  fellow  ? ' ' 

"He'll  be  back  in  a  minute,"  said  Diana. 


THE  POLICEMAN  CAME    BRISKLY    TO   WHERE   SHE   STOOD 


THE    PEDDLER 223 

' '  What  is  this,  anyhow — an  elopement  ? ' '  asked 
the  constable. 

"Not  exactly." 

"Been  cracking  another  safe?" 

"Try  again,"  said  Diana. 

The  policeman  flashed  his  light  in  her  face, 
stared  for  a  moment,  and  gave  a  little  whistle. 
Diana  guessed  he  had  recognized  her  as  the 
sister  of  the  man  under  suspicion  for  the  bur 
glaries.  She  laughed. 

"I'm  afraid  you're  going  to  be  disappointed." 

"Mebbe,  and  mebbe  not.  _  Your  brother  with 
you,  Miss  Kirkland?" 

He  raised  his  whistle  to  his  lips. 

"Don't  do  that!"  said  Diana,  sharply,  for 
she  felt  that  a  police  whistle  at  that  moment 
might  work  damage  to  the  peddler's  plans, 
and,  feeling  that  this  should  be  prevented  at  all 
costs,  she  added,  "Wait  until  the  chief  comes 
back." 

"What  chief?"  he  asked,  the  whistle  still 
against  his  lips. 

"Clamp,  the  peddler." 

He  stared  at  her  for  a  moment,  then  let  fall 
his  arm. 

"Oh — so  it's  him!  Say,  what's  up,  Miss 
Kirkland?" 

"Ask  the  peddler,"  said  Diana,  and  as  she 


224 THE    PEDDLER 

spoke  a  dark  figure  pushed  through  the  lilac- 
bushes  and  came  across  the  path.  The  police 
man  straightened  up  and  saluted.  Clamp 
returned  the  salute  mechanically. 

"Willis,"  said  he,  "slip  down  to  the  De  Vil- 
lignacs'  boat-house  and  see  that  nobody  leaves 
the  place  by  water.  Don't  let  yourself  be  seen 
if  you  can  help  it,  and  don't  interfere  with  any 
body  who  may  land, .  You're  armed,  of  course? " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Stay  there  until  I  send  somebody  to  relieve 
you.  If  they  try  to  get  away  in  their  car,  let 
them  go.  The  roads  are  watched.  Mind  your 
step  now,  and  don't  do  anything  foolish.  Just 
see  that  nobody  gets  off  in  a  boat." 

"Very  good,  sir." 

The  peddler  took  the  motorcycle  from  the 
tree  and  turned  to  Diana. 

"We've  got  a  little  farther  to  go,  Miss  Kirk- 
land,"  said  he,  and  helped  her  to  mount. 

A  moment  later  they  were  speeding  swiftly 
down  the  broad  avenue. 

"Is  everything  all  right?"  Diana  asked. 

"It  is  and  it  isn't,"  he  answered  over  his 
shoulder,  and  with  this  enigmatic  reply  gave  his 
undivided  attention  to  running  the  machine. 

They  passed  through  the  town,  then  turned 
off  on  a  road  which  led  down  to  the  end  of  the 


THE    PEDDLER 225 

cape.  Here  the  peddler  gave  the  motorcycle 
its  speed  again.  Trees  and  fences  smeared 
past,  and  presently  Diana  saw  the  glint  of  the 
water  across  the  moorland  at  her  right,  with 
the  twinkling  riding-lights  of  boats  at  anchor 
and  the  distant  flash  of  a  lighthouse. 

When  almost  at  the  end  of  the  point  the 
peddler  stopped  and  they  both  got  down.  The 
peddler  offered  her  his  hand. 

"This  way,"  said  he.  "Look  out  you  don't 
get  a  fall.  This  place  is  full  of  rocks  and  holes. ' ' 

They  started  across  a  sort  of  moor.  The 
ground  was  very  rough,  but  the  peddler  did  not 
avail  himself  of  his  torch.  It  was  darker  than 
ever,  possibly  because  they  had  been  staring 
at  the  glare  of  the  motorcycle's  searchlight. 
For  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  they  picked  their 
way  cautiously,  then  on  mounting  a  little  rise 
in  the  ground  Diana  saw  a  light  in  the  window 
of  what  appeared  to  be  a  fisherman's  shanty 
and  which  was  evidently  their  objective  point. 
As  they  drew  near  a  man's  voice  rang  out 
sharply  in  a  military  challenge. 

"Halt!    Who  goes  there?" 

"Dorsey." 

"Advance,  chief.  It's  all  right,  sir.  We  got 
'em." 

"Whom  did  you  get?" 


226  THE    PEDDLER 

' '  The  gardener  and  the  chauffeur.  We  caught 
'em  with  the  goods." 

The  peddler  nodded,  but  did  not  appear  to 
show  any  signs  of  gratification.  Taking  Diana 
by  the  elbow,  he  led  the  way  to  the  cabin,  opened 
the  door,  and  they  entered.  The  interior  of  the 
place  was  such  as  might  have  been  expected. 
Two  men  sitting  on  a  bench  rose  and  saluted. 
Two  others  sitting  on  the  floor  with  their  backs 
against  the  wall  did  not,  and  as  Diana  glanced 
at  them  she  recognized  the  De  Vallignacs' 
chauffeur  and  a  man  whom  she  had  seen  work 
ing  about  the  place,  mowing  and  sprinkling  the 
lawn,  and  the  like.  She  observed  also  that 
they  were  handcuffed  together  and  that  the 
chauffeur's  uniform  was  water-soaked.  Both 
men  wore  an  expression  of  sullen  indifference 
and  the  chauffeur  was  smoking  a  cigarette. 
On  a  rough  table  was  a  brown  canvas  war-bag 
which  fastened  with  a  brass  shackle  and  pad 
lock.  It  appeared  to  be  about  half  filled  and 
the  water  trickled  from  it,  to  fall  in  a  little 
stream  upon  the  rough  plank  flooring. 

The  peddler  glanced  at  the  prisoners  with 
such  an  expression  as  might  be  worn  by  a 
sportsman  who  has  gone  out  in  quest  of  geese 
and  canvasback,  and  succeeds  in  bagging  no 
more  than  a  brace  of  hell-divers. 


THE    PEDDLER  227 

"Have  any  trouble?"  he  asked,  listlessly. 

"No,  sir.  We  had  the  electric  in  behind  the 
rocks,  and  these  birds  never  piped  us  down 
till  we  shot  in  alongside.  The  shoffer  was  in 
the  water  and  his  mate  working  the  eel-jack. 
They  had  to  look  round  a  mite,  as  the  tide 
wasn't  yet  full  ebb,  and  the  rock  they  was  to 
get  their  bearin's  on  was  still  covered.  Any 
luck  your  end,  sir?" 

The  peddler  shook  his  head. 

"I  fluked  it,"  he  answered.  "I  don't  think 
I'll  ever  get  over  this,  Murphy.  Had  her  right 
in  my  hands  and  let  her  get  away." 

"She  must  be  some  girl!"  opined  the  police 
man.  "Never  mind,  sir.  The  job  looks  pretty 
good  to  me." 

"Well,  then,  it  doesn't  to  me.  She  went 
through  my  hands  like  a  greased  eel.  I  chased 
her  out  into  the  water  and  she  made  a  guy 
of  me  there.  When  she  found  I  couldn't  catch 
her  she  had  the  nerve  to  swim  back  and  try 
to  drown  me;  and  would  have  got  away  with  it, 
only  that  I  can  stay  under  like  a  seal.  As  it 
was  I  managed  to  get  the  irons  on  her  about 
two  fathoms  deep,  and  as  I  was  towing  her 
ashore,  half  drowned  as  I  thought,  she  did  the 
Houdini  stunt  and  beat  it.  Did  you  find  out 
about  that  chaser?" 


228  THE    PEDDLER 

"Yes,  sir.  She's  all  right.  Got  nothing  to 
do  with  this  bunch.  She's  owned  by  a  young 
man  named  Milliken." 

The  peddler  nodded  and  stared  gloomily  at 
the  prisoners,  Gustave,  the  chauffeur,  looked 
up,  and  Diana,  who  was  watching  him,  saw  a 
gleam  like  that  of  triumph  in  the  dark  eyes, 
and  the  slightest  curve  of  a  sardonic  smile  upon 
his  lips.  She  remembered  what  the  peddler 
had  told  her  about  the  steadfast  loyalty  of  this 
type  of  European  thief,  to  whom  more  than 
any  other  crime  is  endowed  with  the  glamour 
of  romance  and  hero  worship.  Looking  now  at 
Gustave's  face,  she  believed  this  to  be  true  and 
could  understand  the  peddler's  chagrin  at  the 
failure  of  his  coup. 

"Well,"  said  the  peddler,  "you  might  as  well 
chuck  them  in  the  flivver  and  lug  them  over 
to  the  calaboose.  Take  the  swag  to  head 
quarters  and  lock  it  up  in  the  safe  and  stay 
with  it  until  I  pass  by  in  the  morning.  My 
night's  work  is  not  finished  yet.  There's  still 
a  fighting  chance  of  putting  the  thing  across, 
but  I  don't  much  bank  on  it."  He  turned  to 
the  door,  then  paused.  "One  of  you  slip  down 
to  the  De  Vallignacs'  boat-house  and  tell  Willis, 
the  local  bull,  to  lay  off  the  job  and  go  back 
to  his  beat.  Nothing  doing  there." 


THE    PEDDLER  229 

And  then  to  Diana:  "Your  family  jewels 
should  be  in  that  sack,  Miss  Kirkland,  but  we 
won't  bother  to  look  just  now.  We've  other 
work  to  do.  Let's  go." 

He  opened  the  door  in  a  dejected  manner  and 
they  went  out  into  the  night. 


Chapter  XVII 

'"THEY  crossed  the  moor,  mounted  the  motor- 
•*•  cycle  and  proceeded  to  return  rapidly 
upon  their  tracks,  now  at  a  more  moderate 
rate  of  speed.  Passing  through  the  town  the 
peddler  drew  up  at  the  police  station. 

"One  minute,"  he  said  to  Diana  and  went 
inside. 

The  one  minute  lengthened  into  several,  but 
he  came  out  presently,  still  wearing  the  same 
dejected  mien. 

"I've  closed  all  the  roads  but  one  for  the 
De  Vallignacs,"  said  he,  "and  that  is  the  one 
we  are  on.  I've  also  'phoned  your  family  to 
tell  them  that  everything  was  all  right  and  to 
ask  William  to  meet  us  at  the  bus  in  Mr.  Met- 
calf's  meadow."  He  looked  at  her  severely. 
"They  seemed  very  much  surprised  to  learn 
that  you  were  with  me." 

For  the  first  time  since  she  had  worn  it  upon 
her  shoulders  Diana's  proud  head  dropped. 

"I  told  them  that  I  was  going  to  spend  the 
night  with  Gwen." 

"What  time  did  you  leave  them?" 


THE    PEDDLER 231 

"Just  before  dark,"  was  the  almost  inaudible 
answer. 

"Indeed?  And  where  were  you  all  that 
time?" 

"On — on — the  roof  of  the  hangar." 

"Really!"  exclaimed  the  peddler,  and  some 
peculiar  tone  in  his  voice  made  Diana  feel  as 
though  she  were  the  smallest  indivisible  particle 
of  matter  floating  alone  somewhere  out  in  the 
vasty  interplanetary  space. 

"Then,"  said  the  peddler,  "you  must  have 
witnessed  my  fiasco." 

"It  was  too  dark,"  murmured  Diana,  almost 
inaudibly,  "but  I  saw  her  jump  down  the  bank 
and  run  into  the  water — and  I  heard  her  cry 
out,  'A  moi,  Jean.'" 

"Could  you  swear  that  the  voice  was  Patricia 
Melton's?" 

"No,  I  couldn't,"  Diana  answered;  "but  I 
would  if  you  wanted  me  to." 

The  peddler  gave  a  short  laugh. 

' ' Upon  my  word,  I  believe  you,"  he  answered. 
"You  seem  to  be  a  very  cheerful  little  perjurer, 
if  you  don't  mind  my  saying  so." 

"I  don't!"  answered  Diana;  "because  I  am. 
I've  done  more  lying  to-night  than  in  all  the 
rest  of  my  life.  First  I  told  the  family  that 
the  thieves  were  going  to  try  to  steal  the  hydro- 

16 


232 THE    PEDDLER 

plane  to  make  their  getaway,  and  that  they 
must  all  stay  in  the  library  where  they  could 
be  seen  by  anybody  looking  through  the  win 
dow.  Then  I  told  them  that  I  was  going  to  the 
Metcalfs'  for  dinner  and  to  spend  the  night, 
and  started  off  down  the  lane;  and  last  of  all  I 
broke  my  promise  to  you  by  sneaking  back  and 
climbing  up  on  the  roof  of  the  hangar." 

"Well,"  said  the  peddler,  "if  one  is  going  to 
He  one  might  as  well  make  a  thorough  job 
of  it." 

"Can't  you  arrest  her  for  attempted  mur 
der?"  asked  Diana,  hopefully. 

"Hardly,  for  the  attempted  murder  of  a 
manikin.  The  testimony  also  would  be  rather 
slim,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  any  jury,  looking 
first  at  my  size  and  shape  and  then  at  Patricia 
in  a  trim  sailor  suit,  would  have  much  confidence 
in  my  statement  that,  once  having  got  my  grip 
on  her,  she  bowled  me  over  and  beat  it.  Then 
you  have  had  no  dinner?" 

"That  doesn't  matter  in  the  least." 

"Hop  aboard,"  said  the  peddler,  and  took 
the  handle-bars  of  the  motorcycle. 

They  sputtered  on  their  way  again,  through 
the  viscid,  sticky  night,  presently  to  arrive  at 
the  Metcalf  place.  Here  they  stopped,  dis 
mounted  and  wheeled  the  machine  down  the 


THE    PEDDLER  233 

lane  and  across  the  meadow,  where  Torp  greeted 
them  with  shrill  squeals  of  welcome. 

Approaching  the  big  van,  they  saw  the  glow 
of  a  cigarette  on  the  hurricane-deck,  and  Will 
iam's  voice  inquired  with  a  note  of  irony: 
1 '  How  did  you  leave  Gwen,  sister  dear  ?  What's 
the  matter,  Clamp — didn't  they  show  up  to 
swipe  the  hydroplane?" 

"One  of  them  showed  up,  but  not  to  swipe 
the  hydroplane,"  replied  the  peddler.  "Your 
mendacious  sister  may  tell  you  all  about  it 
while  I  am  getting  into  some  clean,  dry  clothes. 
If  you  will  kindly  mount  to  my  upper  suite, 
Miss  Kirkland,  you  will  find  in  the  kitchen  the 
wherewithal  for  supper — coffee,  tea,  biscuits, 
and  bacon  and  eggs  and  things.  We  shall  not 
be  starting  on  the  last  lap  for  a  couple  of 
hours  yet." 

Diana  meekly  followed  his  directions,  and 
as  she  proceeded  to  start  the  stove  and  put 
the  water  on  to  boil  she  gave  her  astonished 
brother  a  graphic  description  of  the  night's 
adventure.  The  peddler,  presently  joining 
them,  relieved  her  of  the  culinary  operations, 
which  he  performed  in  a  swift  and  efficient 
manner  which  bespoke  experience.  They  ate 
and  drank  hungrily,  William  taking  only  coffee, 
which  the  peddler  had  made  strong  enough 


234 THE    PEDDLER 

to  put  a  permanent  curl  in  the  hair  of  a  Japanese ; 
then,  the  repast  finished,  he  seated  himself 
on  the  edge  of  his  bunk,  great  shoulders  hunched 
forward,  elbows  on  his  knees,  and  his  feet 
slightly  toeing  in,  where  he  presented  somewhat 
the  appearance  of  depressed  thoughtfulness 
portrayed  in  the  late  Rodin's  "  Penseur." 

"I  have  to  admit  a  complete  and  dismal 
failure,"  said  he. 

"Nothing  of  the  sort,  old  sleuth,"  protested 
William.  "You've  got  all  the  loot  and  two 
of  the  rotten  bunch." 

"Though  I'm  glad,  of  course,  to  be  able  to 
return  your  family  heirlooms,"  said  the  peddler, 
"the  rich  and  idle  and  unworthy  folks  to  whom 
the  rest  of  the  plunder  belongs  would  be  posi 
tively  frighteried  if  they  knew  how  little  I 
cared  whether  they  ever  saw  theirs  again  or 
not.  And  as  for  those  two  thugs  who  are  capt 
ured,  they  are  mere  underlings,  such  cogs 
in  the  wheel  of  crime  as  any  ordinary  cop 
might  nab  and  of  which  the  penitentiaries  are 
full.  I  never  did  have  much  hope  of  catching 
the  principals  with  the  goods  after  what  Baron 
Rosenthal  told  me  about  them  and  their  meth 
ods,  so  this  sudden  and  unlooked-for  oppor 
tunity  to  collar  the  Melton  girl  in  an  attempt 
at  assassination  was  like  finding  a  weak  spot 


THE    PEDDLER  235 

in  the  devil's  armor.  And  then  I  had  to  go 
and  bungle  it." 

"Some  chicken!"  said  William. 

"As  the  case  now  stands,"  said  the  peddler, 
"we  have  nothing  whatever  on  these  three. 
There  is  no  proof  we  can  offer  that  they  planned 
the  robberies  or  took  any  active  part  in  them. 
I  had  some  hope  in  catching  them  in  actual 
possession  of  their  plunder,  but  they  were  never 
in  actual  possession  of  it.  The  electric  launch 
with  its  police  crew,  which  I  had  on  watch  below 
their  place,  merely  located  the  spot  where  the 
loot  was  hidden  by  the  two  men  we  nabbed 
to-night.  Fortunately  they  chose  a  dark  night 
to  slip  round  under  the  shore,  over  the  flats 
where  the  eelers  work  at  low  tide.  It  was  a 
clever  idea  of  theirs  to  supply  themselves  with 
eeling  gear.  After  that  it  was  merely  a  ques 
tion  of  keeping  the  place  under  constant 
observation." 

"How  about  the  Sultana?"  William  asked. 
"Do  you  think  that  is  with  the  other  stuff?" 

"No,"  answered  the  peddler.  "We  are 
going  to  have  a  try  for  that  as  soon  as  it  gets 
light.  But  I  don't  expect  much  to  come  of  it." 

Diana's  heart  sank.  She  felt  that,  after  all, 
it  was  the  Sultana  that  most  concerned  her 
brother,  and  she  thought  she  understood  the 


236 THE    PEDDLER 

reason  for  the  peddler's  disappointment  and 
disgust  at  his  failure. 

"What  are  your  plans?"  asked  William, 
"if  you  don't  mind  my  asking." 

"Not  in  the  least.  You  see,  though  they 
know  that  I  have  got  nothing  on  them,  I  feel 
fairly  certain  that  they  will  try  to  leave  the 
neighborhood  this  morning.  They  have  no 
reason  to  think  that  the  police  knew  where 
they  had  hidden  the  stuff,  and  the  chances 
are  that  these  two  men  had  orders  to  get  it 
and  meet  them  at  some  other  point.  I  was 
afraid  that  this  ex-chaser  had  been  chartered 
by  them  for  their  immediate  getaway,  but  it 
appears  that  I  was  wrong.  The  owner,  Mr. 
Milliken,  is  a  well-known  yachtsman." 

"Then  you  mean  to  hold  them  up  on  the 
road?"  William  asked. 

"Such  is  my  intention.  That  is  one  reason 
why  I  telephoned  for  you  to  join  me.  Though 
I  don't  anticipate  any  resistance,  it  is  still  pos 
sible  that  they  may  have  in  their  possession 
some  of  the  more  valuable  of  the  jewels,  in 
which  case  they  might  put  up  a  fight.  But 
this  is  not  probable,  especially  now  that  they 
know  from  Patricia's  experience  that  they  are 
suspected.  Any  such  articles  would  more 
probably  be  hidden  or  intrusted  to  the  other 


THE    PEDDLER 237 

servants,  who  may  try  to  escape  by  some 
other  route.  This  trio  is  too  clever,  I  fear, 
to  run  the  risk  of  being  caught  with  so  much 
as  a  stolen  scarf-pin." 

"But  mightn't  they  pass,  now,  at  any 
moment?"  Diana  asked. 

"Not  without  my  being  warned.  One  of 
my  men  has  instructions  to  watch  the  house 
and  if  they  leave  before  five  o'clock  to  telephone 
to  Fairs  Crossing,  where  I  have  a  man  with  a 
motorcycle  waiting  to  bring  me  word  here. 
We  will  get  this  galleon  under  way  before 
that  time,  and  saying  au  rewir  to  Miss 
Kirkland— " 

"You'll  do  nothing  of  the  sort!"  cried  Diana, 
hotly. 

"Nonsense,  Di,  this  is  no  job  for  you,"  said 
William.  "You  might  get  shot." 

"And  then,  again,  I  mightn't.  If  you  two 
think  that  you're  going  to  do  me  out  of  the 
very  cream  of  it  all,  then  you've  got  another 
guess.  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  your 
selves  ! ' '  There  were  tears  in  her  voice.  ' '  After 
all  I've  done  and  all  the  lies  I've  had  to  tell, 
and  the  abuse  I've  stood  from  the  peddler!" 
She  rose  suddenly  to  her  feet.  "All  right,  then, 
I'll  go  back  to  the  house."  Righteous  anger 
choked  her  voice.  "And — and — " 


238 THE    PEDDLER 

"And  tip  off  dear  Patricia?" 

*' —  and  tell  father  and  the  boys,  and  we'll 
all  get  in  the  car  and  follow  you,  and  be  in  at 
the  death  to  see  Patricia  doesn't  get  away 
again!" 

"  Touchtl  Pax,  and  likewise  kindly  lay  off," 
cried  the  peddler.  "Come,  then,  by  all  means, 
dear  goddess  of  the  chase.  Besides,  it  occurs 
to  me  that  as  modest  and  diffident  young  men 
we  may  have  need  of  you." 

"For  what?"  demanded  William. 

"To  search  the  ladies — a  task  from  which 
my  sensitive  nature  shrinks." 

"Me,  too,"  said  William.  "All  right,  let 
her  come,  then.  As  you  say,  Clamp,  they 
won't  be  likely  to  start  anything.  They'd 
know  they  could  never  get  away  with  it." 

"The  peddler's  name,"  said  Diana,  "is  not 
Clamp  at  all,  but  John  Henry  Dorsey." 

"Is  it?  Well,  all  I  can  say  is,  John  Henry, 
that  Clamp  seems  to  fit  you  better." 

"I  thought  so  myself,"  said  the  peddler, 
sadly,  "until  my  whirl  with  Patricia.  I  think 
now  that  a  more  fitting  monniker  would  be  Mr. 
Attaboy  Butterfist.  Well,  then,  if  you're  both 
going  to  lend  a  hand  please  consider  yourselves 
duly  sworn  in  as  deputy  sheriffs." 

Diana  raised  her  hand. 


THE    PEDDLER  239 

"What  do  you  swear?"  asked  the  peddler. 

"Anything,  chief!" 

"That  ought  to  cover  it.  For  some  reasons 
it  is  a  pity  that  you  broke  the  male  sequence 
of  your  family  and  cannot  go  in  for  politics — 
and  for  others  it  is  not." 

"Such  as—" 

"There  would  be  nobody  to  search  the 
ladies,"  said  the  peddler.  He  sighed.  "Since 
you  had  to  disobey  my  orders,  it's  a  shame 
you  couldn't  see  what  was  going  on  and  hop 
down  off  that  roof  and  lend  a  hand  at  the 
capture  of  that  winged  fury  instead  of  sticking 
in  your  proscenium  box." 

"Then  you  would  never  have  forgiven  me. 
You  take  it  too  hard.  She  got  away  because 
she  was  a  woman  and  you  were  afraid  of  hurt 
ing  her.  Where  is  all  your  philosophy?" 

"Philosophy,"  said  the  peddler,  "is  only  to 
offer  others,  never  for  oneself.  And  as  for  my 
being  afraid  of  hurting  her,  I  can  claim  no 
such  tender  mercy.  Naturally  I  did  not  wish 
to  strike  her,  as  she  might  have  come  back 
with  a  suit  for  damages.  No,  she  got  away 
purely  by  reason  of  her  strength  and  greater 
speed.  Of  course  I  was  actually  the  stronger 
of  the  two,  but  so  is  an  elephant  stronger  than 
a  man  with  a  rifle.  She  was  about  eight  times 


240  THE    PEDDLER 

quicker  than  I.  She  had  me  outpointed  at 
every  turn.  I  was  at  least  seven  grabs  behind 
her.  Relatively,  you  might  liken  me  to  one 
of  those  moving  pictures  where  the  slow  motion 
is  analyzed  by  the  ultra-rapid  camera." 

"How  long  have  you  been  doing  this  sort 
of  thing,  John  Henry?"  William  asked. 

"Just  since  the  war." 

"In  the  big  fuss,  I  suppose?" 

"Yes.  Secret  Service  stuff  in  France.  It 
was  over  there  that  I  got  in  touch  with  Rosen- 
thai." 

"Who's  Rosenthal?" 

"A  Czechian  Jew  and  papal  baron,  who 
is  the  salt  of  the  earth  and,  if  the  truth  were 
known,  probably  the  richest  man  on  it.  He 
figures  his  real  estate  by  frontiers,  and  every 
war  in  the  last  thirty  years  has  shifted  his 
fortune  a  billion  or  two.  It  was  he  who  gave 
the  Sultana  to  the  Marquise  d'Irancy  for  a 
wedding  present.  We  rendered  each  other  cer 
tain  services  over  there  and  it  was  that  which 
led  him  to  ask  me  to  tackle  this  job.  Well,  it's 
looking  pale  and  sickly  in  the  east  and  appears 
to  be  the  beginning  of  another  imperfect  day. 
Let's  carry  on.  This  may  not  lead  to  any 
thing,  but  at  any  rate  we  can  have  a  pleasant 
little  promenade  in  my  pretty  car.  You  might 


THE    PEDDLER  241 

stay  up  there  in  the  fighting- top,  William,  to 
avoid  the  possibility  of  our  firing  into  each 
other." 

A  few  minutes  later  the  big  truck  was  under 
way,  and  as  it  rocked  and  lurched  and  banged 
and  volleyed  out  of  the  lane  and  on  to  the  road 
the  genial  Mr.  Metcalf  was  roused  from  his 
slumbers,  turned  sleepily,  and  grumbled  to 
himself: 

"If  Damp's  going  to  abuse  my  hospitality 
by  making  the  night  hideous  as  well  as  the 
day,  he'll  just  have  to  hunt  himself  another 
billet." 

At  a  leisurely  pace  they  clattered  down  the 
road  in  the  direction  from  which  the  peddler 
and  Diana  had  so  recently  come.  In  ordinary 
weather  the  dawn  would  already  have  broken, 
but  the  congested  sky  now  retarded  it.  Pres 
ently  the  road  turned  toward  the  shore  to 
lead  along  the  tops  of  the  low  cliffs,  and  here 
the  peddler  drew  to  one  side  and  stopped. 
William,  reposing  himself  on  the  peddler's 
couch,  did  not  descend,  but  Diana  and  the 
peddler  got  down  and,  walking  to  the  brink, 
seated  themselves  on  the  stone  which  com 
manded  a  view  of  the  pike  on  the  farther  side 
of  the  little  cove.  The  van  was  out  of  sight 
of  any  one  approaching  this  direction,  who 


242 THE    PEDDLER 

would  be  unable  to  discover  it  until  mounting 
a  short  and  steep  ascent. 

The  peddler  policeman  and  his  fair  deputy 
were  conscious  of  a  certain  depression  of  spirits, 
which  in  the  case  of  the  man  was  owing  to  what 
he  considered  his  inexcusable  bungling,  and 
in  that  of  the  girl  from  her  reasoning  that, 
though  the  discovery  of  the  jewels  must  ex 
culpate  William  from  all  suspicion  connected 
with  their  theft,  she  could  not  see  how 
it  was  going  to  dispossess  the  mind  of  the 
marquise  of  such  in  regard  to  the  rape  of  the 
Sultana. 

For  the  damning  fact  remained  that  the 
Frenchwoman  had  been  unconscious  while  alone 
with  him,  whereas  during  the  rest  of  the  day 
and  evening  she  had  been  in  full  possession 
of  all  her  faculties.  Even  supposing  that 
Patricia  had  been  deft  and  strong  enough  to 
open  the  locket  while  walking  or  standing 
close  to  her,  it  was  by  no  means  sure 
that  the  marquise  would  admit  of  such  a 
possibility. 

Several  times  Diana  was  on  the  verge  of 
bringing  up  this  point,  but  refrained  from 
doing  so  because  it  seemed  to  her  that  the 
peddler  had  avoided  all  discussion  of  the  jewel. 
She  felt  that  if  he  were  able  to  give  her  any 


THE    PEDDLER  243 

satisfaction  in  this  regard  he  would  already 
have  done  so,  and  she  had  also  a  premonition 
that  he  had  still  another  hand  to  play  from 
which  he  hoped  to  turn  the  odd  trick. 

"Do  you  think  that  Miss  Melton  recognized 
you  last  night?"  she  asked,  presently. 

"No.  It  was  pitch  dark  and  my  face  was 
blackened.  In  the  water  she  could  not  have 
recognized  anybody,  what  with^  our  being 
mostly  under  it  most '  of  the  time  and  the 
rumpus  we  were  kicking  up.  The  only  satis 
faction  which  this  business  leaves  me  is  that 
in  my  capacity  of  peddler  I  fooled  them  from 
start  to  finish — my  finish!" 

He  fell  into  a  gloomy  silence,  which  Diana 
did  not  attempt  to  break.  The  light  grew 
rapidly  until,  as  happens  in  midsummer  when 
the  sky  is  heavily  overcast  and  the  sunrise 
unannounced,  they  found  it  suddenly  broad 
day.  It  was  a  murky,  sticky,  viscid  sort  of 
day,  but  promised  soon  to  change  in  character, 
for  a  damp  little  breeze  sprang  up  out  of  the 
east  to  ruffle  the  leaden  waters.  Suddenly  the 
peddler  slanted  his  head. 

"Car  coming,"  said  he,  and  rose. 

Diana  sprang  up  after  him,  and  at  that 
moment  there  appeared  round  the  shoulder 
of  the  hill  across  the  cove  a  dark  red  touring- 


244 THE    PEDDLER 

car,  which  they  recognized  immediately  as  the 
De  Vallignacs'. 

"Here,"  said  the  peddler,  "is  where  we  make 
our  last  bet,  turn  our  last  card.  Whether  ace 
or  two-spot  is  to  be  decided  within  the  next 
ten  minutes." 


Chapter  XVIII 

AS  the  peddler  and  Diana  approached  the 
**•  van  William's  voice  hailed  them  from  the 
upper  deck. 

"Enemy  submarine  on  the  port  bow,  sir!" 

"All  right,"  said  the  peddler.  "Stand  by, 
William." 

He  helped  Diana  jto  mount,  started  the 
motor,  and  took  his  seat.  As  they  forged 
cumbersomely  forward  the  De  Vallignacs' 
car  popped  up  over  the  crest  of  the  rise  about 
two  hundred  yards  ahead  and  bore  down  upon 
them  at  high  speed. 

Even  at  that  distance  they  were  able  to 
recognize  Stephan  at.  the  wheel  by  reason  of 
his  pallid  face,  black  mustache,  and  Vandyke, 
and  the  ulster  of  yellow  tweed  which  he  usually 
wore  when  motoring.  The  peddler  slowed 
down  and,  reaching  out  at  the  side,  held  out 
one  hand  as  a  signal  for  them  to  stop.  This  was 
evidently  read  and  understood,  but  brought 
no  more  than  a  series  of  impatient  blasts  from 
the  horn.  The  peddler  put  his  truck  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,  which  was  here  rather 
wide,  but  with  irregular  rocks  on  either  side, 


246 THE    PEDDLER 

and  at  this  apparently  stupid  maneuver, 
which  left  scant  room  to  pass,  the  approach 
ing  car  vociferated  furiously,  at  the  same  time 
slowing  its  speed. 

Again  the  peddler  raised  his  hand  with  an 
energetic  gesture.  But  Stephan,  apparently 
assuming  this  to  be  a  cheeky  attempt  to  stop 
them  for  personal  reasons  of  the  peddler's  own, 
merely  struck  his  horn  again  and  flung  out  his 
arm  in  an  angry  gesture  for  the  peddler  to 
give  him  road  room,  at  the  same  time  checking 
his  pace  still  further.  The  car  and  the  truck 
were  at  this  time  not  more  than  fifty  yards 
apart,  and  Diana's  heart  gave  a  sudden  bound 
as  she  discovered  the  two  cloaked  and  veiled 
figures  on  the  back  seat  to  be  Leontine  and 
Patricia.  As  the  peddler  had  surmised,  there 
were  only  the  three  principals  in  the  car. 

But  though  his  speed  was  greatly  reduced 
and  he  had  ample  time  to  come  to  a  stop, 
Stephan  evidently  had  no  intention  of  so  doing. 
Furious  at  what  he  considered  to  be  the  ped 
dler's  stupid  impudence — for  Patricia  had  failed 
to  recognize  in  him  her  would-be  captor — he 
decided  at  the  last  moment  to  squeeze  past. 
There  was  room  for  this,  with  perhaps  two 
inches  to  spare,  and  Stephan  was  a  skilful 
driver,  so  he  swerved  to  the  side  and  was  about 


THE    PEDDLER 247 

to  throw  on  his  power  again  when  the  peddler, 
anticipating  his  intention,  gave  a  twist  to  his, 
wheel,  swung  the  big  truck  across  the  road,  and 
stopped. 

There  was  a  scream  of  brakes  from  the  tour 
ing-car,  echoed  both  from  its  rear  seat  and 
from  the  truck,  a  string  of  Gallic  oaths  from 
Stephan,  a  yell  of  triumph  from  the  roof  of  the 
van,  and  the  long  roadster  crashed  into  the 
forward  end  of  the  truck. 

Though  Stephan  had  succeeded  in  bringing 
his  car  almost  to  a  stop,  any  bystander  who 
might  have  happened  to  be  a  hundred  yards 
away  would  have  thought  that  there  had  been 
a  head-on  collision  of  two  big  motor-vehicles 
running  full  speed.  Though  its  volume  would 
naturally  have  been  greater,  it  is  doubtful  if 
two  express  trains  trying  to  pass  each  other 
on  the  same  track  could  have  produced  a 
greater  variety  of  noise,  this  the  'more  singular 
as  the  actual  damage  was  not  very  great  and 
was  confined  to  searchlights,  mud-guards,  and 
the  hood  of  the  van's  motor.  But  the  shock 
to  the  rolling  store  delivered  thus  broadside 
on  shifted  the  cargo  within  and  without,  most 
of  the  latter  on  the  side  of  the  collision  being 
flung  upon  the  road  with  an  appalling  clank 

and  clatter.     The  highway  was  strewn  with  a 
17 


248  THE    PEDDLER 

varied  stock  of  marine,  agricultural,  and  house 
hold  impedimenta,  lanterns,  oars,  and  boat 
hooks,  plowshares,  garden  tools,  a  vacuum 
cleaner,  an  ice-cream  freezer,  dustpans,  and  an 
oil-stove  or  two,  with  a  little  crockery  and 
agateware. 

Stephan  rose  in  his  seat,  brandishing  his 
arms,  for  a  moment  inarticulate  from  the  rush 
of  strong  emotions.  But  not  for  very  long. 
Assured  by  the  racket  of  the  smash  that  the 
whole  fore  end  of  his  car  must  have  telescoped 
or  crumpled  like  an  accordion,  there  burst  from 
his  lips  a  volley  of  oaths  in  French  and  English. 

"Sacres  cochons!"  he  screeched.  ''Imbecile! 
Idiot!  Chameau!  'Opeless  lunatic !  Miserable! 
What  the  devil  are  you  trying  to  do?  'Ave 
you  no  sense?  You — you  damn  fool — are 
you  trying  to  kill  us  all?" 

The  peddler  stopped  his  motor  and,  leaning 
forward,  beamed  upon  the  furious  man  with 
cheerful  impudence. 

"A  thousand,  thousand  pardons,  monsieur," 
said  he,  "and  likewise,  please  excuse  me.  I 
heard  that  you  were  leaving  the  neighborhood, 
and  in  consideration  of  our  pleasant  and  friendly 
relations  I  could  not  let  you  go  without  wishing 
you  'bon  voyage."' 

Speech  utterly  failed   Stephan.    He  glared 


THE    PEDDLER  249 

at  the  peddler  in  hopeless  rage,  and  at  Diana, 
whose  presence  he  appeared  suddenly  to  realize 
with  a  shock  of  astonishment.  Behind  him 
the  two  women  were  leaning  forward,  their 
eyes  burning  through  their  tulle  veils,  for  their 
quicker  wit  had  come  to  an  instant  realization 
that  the  peddler's  seeming  stupidity  was  very 
far  from  that  and  had  behind  it  some  specific 
purpose.  The  better  to  examine  the  situation 
Patricia  whipped  off  her  veil,  which  was  wound 
about  her  great  mass  of  ruddy  hair,  and  she 
raised  her  hand  to  her  head  as  though  to  re 
arrange  it  from  any  disorder  produced  by  the 
shock.  This  gesture  on  her  part  did  not 
escape  the  keen  and  watchful  eye  of  the 
peddler. 

"Your  service,  mesdames,"  said  he,  politely. 
"A  nice  morning  for  a  murder,  Miss  Melton, 
n'est-ce-pas?  Or  a  swim;  or  for  both." 

Patricia's  tawny  eyes  fixed  intently  on  his 
face,  which  showed  signs  of  her  handiwork, 
caught  her  breath  suddenly.  At  that  moment 
she  discovered  William  peering  down  upon  her 
from  the  top  of  the  van,  and  she  caught  the 
black  metallic  glint  of  the  automatic  in  his 
hand.  The  peddler,  humming  his  little  tune, 
stepped  down  into  the  road. 

"What  the  devil  is  the  meaning  of  all  this?'* 


248 THE    PEDDLER 

varied  stock  of  marine,  agricultural,  and  house 
hold  impedimenta,  lanterns,  oars,  and  boat 
hooks,  plowshares,  garden  tools,  a  vacuum 
•cleaner,  an  ice-cream  freezer,  dustpans,  and  an 
oil-stove  or  two,  with  a  little  crockery  and 
agateware. 

Stephan  rose  in  his  seat,  brandishing  his 
arms,  for  a  moment  inarticulate  from  the  rush 
of  strong  emotions.  But  not  for  very  long. 
Assured  by  the  racket  of  the  smash  that  the 
whole  fore  end  of  his  car  must  have  telescoped 
or  crumpled  like  an  accordion,  there  burst  from 
his  lips  a  volley  of  oaths  in  French  and  English. 

"Sacres  cochons!"  he  screeched.  "Imbecile! 
Idiot!  Chameau!  'Opeless  lunatic !  Miserable! 
What  the  devil  are  you  trying  to  do?  'Ave 
you  no  sense?  You — you  damn  fool — are 
you  trying  to  kill  us  all?" 

The  peddler  stopped  his  motor  and,  leaning 
forward,  beamed  upon  the  furious  man  with 
cheerful  impudence. 

"A  thousand,  thousand  pardons,  monsieur," 
said  he,  "and  likewise,  please  excuse  me.  I 
heard  that  you  were  leaving  the  neighborhood, 
and  in  consideration  of  our  pleasant  and  friendly 
relations  I  could  not  let  you  go  without  wishing 
you  'bon  voyage"' 

Speech  utterly  failed   Stephan.    He  glared 


THE    PEDDLER 249 

at  the  peddler  in  hopeless  rage,  and  at  Diana, 
whose  presence  he  appeared  suddenly  to  realize 
with  a  shock  of  astonishment.  Behind  him 
the  two  women  were  leaning  forward,  their 
eyes  burning  through  their  tulle  veils,  for  their 
quicker  wit  had  come  to  an  instant  realization 
that  the  peddler's  seeming  stupidity  was  very 
far  from  that  and  had  behind  it  some  specific 
purpose.  The  better  to  examine  the  situation 
Patricia  whipped  off  her  veil,  which  was  wound 
about  her  great  mass  of  ruddy  hair,  and  she 
raised  her  hand  to  her  head  as  though  to  re 
arrange  it  from  any  disorder  produced  by  the 
shock.  This  gesture  on  her  part  did  not 
escape  the  keen  and  watchful  eye  of  the 
peddler. 

"Your  service,  mesdames,"  said  he,  politely. 
"A  nice  morning  for  a  murder,  Miss  Melton, 
u'est-ce-pas?  Or  a  swim;  or  for  both." 

Patricia's  tawny  eyes  fixed  intently  on  his 
face,  which  showed  signs  of  her  handiwork, 
caught  her  breath  suddenly.  At  that  moment 
she  discovered  William  peering  down  upon  her 
from  the  top  of  the  van,  and  she  caught  the 
black  metallic  glint  of  the  automatic  in  his 
hand.  The  peddler,  humming  his  little  tune, 
stepped  down  into  the  road. 

"What  the  devil  is  the  meaning  of  all  this?'* 


252 THE    PEDDLER 

"Was  that  the  Sultana  you  threw  into  the 
water?" 

' '  The  Sultana  ?  What  are  you  talking  about  ? 
That  was  just  a  bit  of  blue  glass  that  was  on 
the  road." 

Her  voice  was  limpid  as  ever,  but  her  face 
was  ghastly,  the  amber  eyes  glowing  like  two 
points  of  yellow  flame,  while  the  faces  of 
Stephan  and  Leontine  looked  strained  and 
haggard. 

"Very  well,"  said  the  peddler.  "We  shall 
have  to  take  your  word  for  it,  I  suppose."  He 
turned  to  Diana.  "Now,  then,  Miss  Kirkland, 
I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  officiate.  Leontine, 
you  and  Patricia  will  kindly  step  behind  the 
car,  keeping  your  hands  above  your  head. 
Wait  a  minute." 

He  stepped  up  to  the  two  women  and  made 
a  swift  examination  for  weapons  possibly  con 
cealed  about  their  persons,  but  failed  to  dis 
cover  any  such. 

"All  right.  Go  over  them  carefully,  Miss 
Kirkland.  William,  keep  our  friend  here  cov 
ered  while  I  overhaul  him." 

But  even  Stephan  proved  to  be  unarmed, 
nor  did  the  brief  but  searching  examination 
discover  anything  incriminating.  The  peddler 
next  turned  his  attention  to  the  car,  which 


THE    PEDDLER  253 

he  went  over  thoroughly,  but  with  a  similar 
negative  result. 

"It  is  just  as  I  thought,"  said  he,  lightly. 
"A  perfectly  innocent  trio  of  distinguished 
foreigners  subjected  to  an  unwarranted  in 
dignity  while  starting  off  on  a  little  tour  in 
their  car.  One  might  indeed  call  it  a  hold-up. 
We  may  get  twenty  years  for  this,  William,  if 
they  see  fit  to  make  a  charge." 

William,  however,  was  in  no  joking  mood. 

"But  confound  it,  Clamp,  that  was  the 
Sultana  she  threw  out  into  the  water!  We  all 
saw  it — she  took  it  from  her  hair.  Look  at 
her  face!  Look  at  all  their  faces !" 

These  were  indeed  ghastly,  especially  that 
of  Patricia.  Though  making,  as  one  could 
see,  a  tremendous  effort  to  preserve  her  insouci 
ance,  the  hate,  fury  and  baffled  avarice  which 
glowed  from  her  amber-colored  eyes  were  of  a 
quality  such  as  none  of  them  had  ever  seen 
in  the  look  of  man  or  beast.  There  was  some 
thing  diabolic  and  terrible  about  it,  something 
neither  of  the  world  nor  of  the  underworld  of 
men,  but  to  that  nether  world  peopled  by 
demons  or  vampires. 

On  the  contrary,  the  expressions  of  Leontine 
and  Stephan,  though  deathly  still,  showed  a 
certain  sense  of  relief.  The  peddler  quite 


254 THE    PEDDLER 

understood.  It  seemed  to  him  probable  that 
capture  to  criminal  natures  of  such  intensity 
meant  death,  and  he  doubted  that  any  of  them 
would  support  a  sentence  of  long  imprisonment. 
They  played  the  game  as  might  a  military  spy 
in  time  of  war,  their  lives  the  stake  in  the 
event  of  failure.  Patricia's  act  had  saved  them 
this.  She  had  recognized  in  the  peddler's 
scratched  and  battered  face  her  assailant  of 
the  night  before,  knew  that  they  had  been  out 
witted  and  had  now  to  deal  with  a  brain  of 
such  acumen  that  no  hazard  must  be  taken. 
Better  to  lose  the  priceless  diamond  than  to 
run  the  risk.  And  the  peddler,  she  reasoned, 
would  not  have  been  content  with  the  cursory 
search  which  had  been  made  if  he  had  not  seen 
the  wide  glittering  arc  described  by  the  great 
gem  before  it  fell  to  its  final  resting-place, 
to  be  embedded  in  the  soft  ooze  or  hidden 
beyond  hope  of  all  recover}7-  in  the  weed- 
covered  crevices  of  a  rocky  bottom. 

"Well,  mes  amis,''  said  the  peddler,  cheer 
fully,  "I  fear  that  I  shall  have  to  apologize  for 
my  unwarranted  suspicions  and  the  damage 
caused  your  car.  Of  course  you  can  scarcely 
be  blamed  for  the  criminal  actions  of  your 
chauffeur  and  gardener,  whom  we  seized  early 
this  morning  in  the  act  of  recovering  the  loot 


THE    PEDDLER 


plundered  from  the  houses  of  this  neighbor 
hood,  which  they  had  cunningly  hid  at  the 
bottom  of  the  water  off  the  point." 

Leontine  turned  whiter  still  and  leaned  back 
against  the  body  of  the  car  as  if  in  need  of 
support.  Stephan's  face  was  livid.  But  Patri 
cia's  eyes  had  assumed  the  flat,  impenetrable 
look  to  be  seen  in  those  of  the  great  Felida 
after  the  first  fury  of  capture.  The  peddler 
glanced  down  at  the  fore  end  of  the  touring-car. 

"Fortunately  the  damage  is  not  such  as  to 
delay  your  continuing  your  voyage  d'agrement," 
said  he.  "You  are  quite  at  liberty  to  go. 
You  are  of  course  sufficiently  astute  to  know 
that  I  have  no  sufficient  evidence  for  your 
indictment  and  that  it  is  hardly  worth  the  while 
to  put  us  all  to  the  inconvenience  of  a  mere 
arrest  based  on  that  of  a  collateral  character." 

"But  hang  it  all,  Clamp,"  protested  William, 
"we  all  saw  her  throw  the  Sultana  into  the  sea!" 

The  peddler  smiled. 

"Pardon  me,"  said  he,  "but  we  saw  nothing 
of  the  sort.  Patricia  did  precisely  as  she  said. 
She  threw  a  piece  of  blue  glass  into  the  sea. 
Of  course  she  thought  that  it  was  the  Sultana. 
They  all  thought  that  it  was  the  Sultana,  just 
as  the  Marquise  d'Irancy  thought  it  was  that 
wonderful  gem  which  she  has  been  so  foolishly 


256  THE    PEDDLER 

lugging  round  in  her  awkward  and  unsightly 
lockets  to  make  us  all  such  a  great  deal  of 
inconvenience  and  unhappiness." 

He  turned  his  mocking  face  to  Patricia  and 
laughed  at  the  expression  surprised  upon  her 
own. 

"Live  and  learn,  my  dear,"  said  he,  "and 
do  not  trust  entirely  to  your  own  uncommon 
cleverness.  This  big  blue  rock  with  which 
you  just  made  such  a  beautiful  throw  was 
merely  an  exact  and  very  masterly  replica  of 
the  Sultana,  which  Baron  de  Rosenthal  caused 
to  be  reconstructed  by  a  famous  manufacturer 
of  artificial  jewels,  when  he  found  that  the 
Marquise  d'Irancy  was  going  to  insist  upon 
keeping  the  gem  about  her  person.  The  real 
stone  was  put  in  a  safe-deposit  vault  by  Mon 
sieur  le  Marquis,  who  gave  his  wife  this  imita 
tion  to  play  with." 

He  glanced  from  one  to  the  other  of  the 
blank  faces  and  gave  his  merry  laugh. 

"I  must  say,  though,  I  should  have  thought 
that  Leontine  and  a  distinguished  disciple  of 
Chu-Chu  would  have  discovered  the  fraud. 
But  I  suppose  that  with  that  trained  spirit  of 
precaution  to  which  you  owe  your  criminal 
success  you  did  not  permit  yourself  any  long 
examination  of  it.  Well,  let  us  be  on  our  way." 


THE    PEDDLER  257 

"But  hold  on,  Clamp!"  cried  William. 
"Even  supposing  it  was  not  the  Sultana,  all 
the  same  she  stole  it  from  the  Marquise 
d'Irancy.  Can't  you  arrest  her  for  that?" 

The  peddler  shook  his  head. 

"Nothing  doing,  William,"  said  he.  "In 
the  first  place,  as  you  must  see  when  you 
stop  to  think,  the  sworn  identification  of  a 
reconstructed  jewel  whirling  through  the  air 
in  a  parabolic  curve  would  not  be  given  any 
great  amount  of  consideration;  and  in  the 
second,  even  if  we  had  seized  it  upon  her  per 
son,  the  crime  would  scarcely  have  amounted 
to  petty  larceny.  The  actual  intrinsic  value 
of  the  object  is  nil,  and  a  thief  is  not  convicted 
on  what  he  thinks  to  be  the  value  of  the  stolen 
article,  but  on  the  actual  value  thereof." 

He  turned  to  Stephan. 

"Why  don't  you  go  back  to  your  house?" 
he  asked.  "Nobody  is  going  to  bother  you." 

"Then  we  are  free  to  go?"  Stephan  asked. 

"Free  as  air,"  said  the  peddler.  "Perhaps 
some  day  we  may  have  the  pleasure  of  another 
merry  little  game  of  'Button,  button,  who's  got 
the  button?'  I  do  not  mind  admitting  that 
in  this  case  the  honors  are  with  you,  while  as 
for  my  competition  with  Patricia  in  aquatic 
sports  the  less  said  about  that  the  better." 


258 THE    PEDDLER 

He  looked  at  the  girl,  and  as  their  eyes  met 
there  came  into  hers  a  flame  of  such  singular 
intensity  that  despite  his  steady  nerves  the 
peddler  was  startled.  For  at  this  moment 
the  impulse  received  from  her  outr6  personality 
was  not  a  hostile  one,  nor  did  he  feel  it  to  be 
precisely  that  of  admiration  or  respect.  It 
was  an  avid  look,  a  regard  of  such  hungry 
ferocity  as  no  beast  of  prey  ever  projected  upon 
its  prospective  quarry. 

An  involuntary  shudder  rippled  through  the 
peddler.  For  a  moment  he  could  not  remove 
his  eyes,  and  as  their  gaze  clung  to  hers  a 
crimson  wave  swept  suddenly  across  the  girl's 
face. 

Diana  laid  her  hand  upon  his  arm. 

"Let  us  go,"  she  said,  a  little  faintly. 

The  spell  was  broken  by  her  voice.  Pa 
tricia's  features  seemed  to  contract  in  a  spasm 
of  rage.  Stephan  had  got  back  into  the  car, 
started  his  motor,  and  backed  away.  The 
peddler  started  that  of  the  truck,  helped  Diana 
to  mount,  went  astern  with  a  roaring  of  gears, 
and,  the  road  clear,  came  to  a  stop  while 
William  proceeded  to  retrieve  the  scattered 
stock  in  trade. 

"Chuck  the  darned  stuff  inside,"  said  the 
peddler.  "We're  finished  with  it  now." 


THE    PEDDLER 259 

William  obeyed  and  mounted  to  the  sky 
parlor.  The  peddler  forged  thunderously 
ahead,  turned  sharply,  and  rolled  along  the 
road.  Stephan,  having  backed  clear,  was  wait 
ing  for  the  women  to  get  in. 

Then  as  the  big  truck  rumbled  along,  keep 
ing  well  to  the  right,  the  long  red  touring-car 
sped  past,  and  as  it  shot  ahead  the  figure  of 
Leontine  turned  in  its  seat.  She  flashed  them 
a  brilliant  smile,  waved  one  hand  gaily,  and 
the  peddler,  a  motion-picture  fan,  saw  her  red 
lips  form  the  words,  "Merci — et  au  revoir!" 


Chapter  XIX 

THE  chanticleer  of  Kirkland  Manor  was 
a  little  late  to  usher  in  the  dawn  when 
James,  roused  from  his  uneasy  slumbers  on 
the  leathern  couch  in  the  library,  where  he 
had  thrown  himself,  got  up,  walked  to  the 
window,  and  looked  out. 

None  of  the  Kirklands  had  gone  to  bed. 
The  peddler's  telephone  communication  had 
banished  sleep,  and  after  William's  departure 
they  had  given  themselves  up  to  a  nervous 
discussion  as  to  what  might  be  afoot.  Most 
of  all  were  they  disturbed  by  Diana's  perfidy, 
of  which  the  peddler  had  given  no  detailed 
explanation.  For  he,  learning  in  his  vexation 
that  she  was  supposed  to  be  spending  the  night 
with  the  Metcalfs,  had  thought  best  to  offer 
them  no  further  information  beyond  the  fact 
that  he  had  met  her  and  they  need  have  no 
cause  for  anxiety  in  her  regard. 

Finally,  exhausted  by  the  nervous  tension, 
they  had  flung  themselves  down  for  such 
repose  as  might  be  vouchsafed,  Mr.  Kirkland 
in  his  big  arm-chair,  James  upon  the  couch, 


THE    PEDDLER 261. 

and  the  twins  inelegantly  sprawled  out  upon 
a  tiger  and  a  bearskin  rug.  Once  asleep  their 
slumber  was  profound,  so  that  they  did  not 
hear  the  departure  of  the  peddler's  van,  even 
though  less  than  a  mile  away. 

James  took  a  few  turns  upon  the  veranda, 
inhaling  deeply  the  damp  briny  air,  which 
exercise  had  come  to  take  the  place  of  the 
potation  with  which  he  would  undoubtedly 
have  stimulated  his  jaded  system  but  for  the 
promise  made  Diana  some  weeks  before  while 
waiting  for  the  car  to  topple  from  the  treetop. 
Now  more  hygienically  refreshed,  he  strode 
round  to  the  rear  and  clapped  his  hands, 
when  Chang  popped  out  like  a  weasel  from 
its  hole. 

"Coffee  for  all  hands,"  said  James.  "First 
chop,  fifty-fifty  coffee.  Plenty  hot,  and  strong 
as  lye." 

He  went  back  into  the  library,  lighted  a 
cigarette,  then  stepped  to  the  coat-closet  in 
search  of  something  to  throw  over  his  father's 
knees,  for  the  east  wind  had  cooled  the  air 
and  the  room  was  damp.  As  he  performed 
this  filial  service  Mr.  Kirkland  gave  a  strangled 
snort,  opened  his  eyes,  and  sat  up  suddenly, 
very  defiant,  and  looking  quite  his  age  and  then 
some  few  years. 


262 THE    PEDDLER 

"Thank  the  Lord  that  beastly  night  is  over," 
said  he.  "Any  news?" 

"Nothing  yet,  sir,"  James  answered,  and, 
picking  up  a  couple  of  cushions,  threw  one  at 
each  of  his  younger  brothers,  who,  accustomed 
to  standing  watch-and-watch,  were  able  to 
cram  a  good  deal  of  rest  into  three  hours  and 
fifty -five  minutes. 

"All  the  watch!"  bellowed  James.  "Show 
a  leg,  you  heroes.  Rise  and  shine.  Scratch 
your  bites  on  the  spar  deck." 

The  efficient  Chang,  who  had  apparently 
anticipated  the  order,  appeared  at  this  moment 
with  the  black  and  powerful  beverage,  hard 
tack  and  butter.  Then  having  served  them,  he 
stood  by,  grinning  and  rubbing  his  long  hands 
one  against  the  other. 

"S'pose  you  dlink  coffee!"  said  he.  "Go 
along  hyloplane-house,  see  velly  funny  sight. 
You  laugh  plenty." 

"What's  that?"  demanded  James. 

"You  go  see — long  hyloplane-house,"  re 
peated  the  Chinaman;  and  he  gave  a  chuckle 
and  vanished. 

Father  and  sons  stared  at  one  another  ques- 
tioningly. 

"What's  struck  that  celestial?"  growled  Mr. 
Kirkland. 


THE    PEDDLER  263 

"Don't  know,  sir,"  James  answered.  "He 
seems  to  have  got  next  to  something.  I'll  go 
and  see." 

"We'll  all  go,"  said  his  father.  "In  unity 
is  strength,  and  I'm  rather  low  on  that  this 
morning.  Too  old  for  all  this  sort  of  razoo. 
Damn  that  peddler !  why  can't  he  come  down  in 
front  of  the  footlights  and  kak  out  what  he 
knows  instead  of  sticking  up-stage  and  whisper 
ing.  I'm  all  fed  up  on  him.  If  he  doesn't  come 
across  with  something  after  this  I  swear  I'll 
get  down  the  old  goose-gun." 

They  bolted  their  coffee  and  flopped  down 
the  path  to  the  hangar.  Then  rounding  a 
bend  in  the  path,  James  stopped  with  a  gasp 
of  dismay,  for  there  on  the  rustic  bench,  broad 
back  turned  to  them,  sat  the  headless  trunk  of 
William,  slumped  down  slightly  in  his  seat; 
and  at  a  little  distance — oh,  horror! — the  head 
itself  with  the  light  hat  of  French  felt  still 
upon  it,  and  the  contour  of  his  bronzed  cheek 
barely  visible  beneath  its  brim. 

Just  what  the  reaction  of  this  shocking 
spectacle  might  have  been  upon  their  rickety 
nerves  one  cannot  say,  for  the  singsong  voice 
of  the  Chinaman  struck  reassuringly  upon  their 
ears. 

"No  be  flaid!"   said   Chang.     "Him   allee 

18 


264  THE    PEDDLER 

same  dummy.  Chang  see  Missy  Di  takum 
clothes,  Mr.  Willum,  top  side.  Pedlaman 
makum  stuff  foolum  hatchet-man.  Me  tlink 
somebody  come  long  tly  choke  Mr.  Willum 
allee  same  lope." 

He  skipped  forward  and  picked  up  from 
the  ground  the  dark  crimson  curtain  cord. 
James  snatched  it  from  his  hand. 

' '  Holy  mackerel ! ' '  said  he.  ' '  Chang's  right. 
Are  you  on,  dad?" 

Mr.  Kirkland  rubbed  his  eyes. 

"Well,  not  precisely,  James.  Merely  dang 
ling  from  the  step,  as  one  might  say." 

"These  crooks,"  said  James,  "meant  to  scrag 
William  and  make  it  look  like  suicide — " 

"Plenty  fight,"  Chang  interrupted,  and 
pointed  to  the  crushed  laurel  sprigs,  which 
showed  evidence  of  a  recent  struggle.  They 
were  examining  it  excitedly  when  from  the 
far  distance  came  certain  sounds  which  caused 
the  more  youthful  twins  to  spring  from  the 
heathery  couch  like  stags  that  at  eve  had 
drunk  their  fill,  or  hounds  that  hear  the  view 
halloo  and  distant  hunter's  horn.  It  was  a  dis 
cordant,  rambling  rattle  at  first,  but  presently 
there  came  the  sound  of  a  horn  struck  with 
punctuated  time.  Ugh — Ugh !  Ugh — Ugh — Ugh ! 
it  went  repeatedly  in  glorified  triumphant  grunts. 


THE    PEDDLER  265 

As  one  man  the  Kirklands  turned  and  started 
for  the  house,  not  too  rapidly,  but  with  a  sort 
of  earnest  dignity  of  haste.  As  they  came 
within  sight  of  the  highway,  which  was  visible 
through  a  vista  a  little  before  it  passed  in  front 
of  their  wall,  a  dark-red  touring-car,  evidently 
not  the  one  that  had  been  horning  from  the  far 
distance,  shot  over  the  road  and  disappeared. 

"Him  Flenchman  plenty  clook,"  observed 
the  Chinaman,  who  had  formed  opinions  of 
his  own. 

"By  Gad!"  roared  Mr.  Kirkland,  "I  believe 
the  boy  is  right." 

"Well,"  said  James,  "if  Clamp  is  chasing 
him  in  his  bus  he's  got  about  as  much  chance 
as  a  hippopotamus  after  a  jackal." 

They  waited  with  a  patience  that  put  a 
strain  upon  their  creaking  nerves.  The  uproar 
increased,  though  with  exasperating  slowness, 
but  presently  the  big  sky-blue  vehicle  made  a 
wide  turn  and  charged  through  the  gates  with 
a  clatter  of  cogs,  and  they  observed  it  to  be  still 
augmented  in  height  by  the  ample  tent  rigged 
out  upon  the  roof.  Sitting  composedly  side  by 
side  were  Diana  and  the  peddler,  and  as  the 
anomalous  caravan  drew  up  in  front  of  the 
house  its  driver  saluted  respectfully  while  his 
companion  lightly  blew  them  a  kiss. 


266 THE    PEDDLER 

"Where  is  William?"  bawled  Mr.  Kirk- 
land. 

"Up-stairs  in  bed,  papa,"  Diana  answered. 

At  this  moment  a  catastrophe  occurred, 
for  the  peddler,  unmindful  of  the  tent,  passed 
slowly  under  the  springing  branch  of  a  maple. 
This  caught  the  ridgepole,  which  fell  with  a 
clatter  and  billowing  of  canvas,  when  there 
came  from  beneath  an  unheaval  accompanied 
by  smothered  cries  and  a  volley  of  strong  speech. 
Then  appeared  the  late  suspect,  who  descended 
the  ladder,  rubbing  his  head. 

"My  word!"  said  he,  "but  that's  a  nice  way 
to  rouse  out  a  man  who  hasn't  had  a  decent 
nap  for  a  fortnight!" 

They  were  haled  into  the  breakfast-room, 
where  the  grinning  Chang,  who  invariably 
managed  to  keep  one  jump  ahead  of  any  service 
required,  was  already  setting  the  table  and, 
like  the  magician  he  was,  juggling  from  some 
invisible  source  a  supply  of  smoking-hot  sau 
sages  and  eggs  and  kippers  and  coffee  and  rolls 
and  muffins. 

Midst  roars  of  Homeric  laughter  the  story 
of  the  night's  adventure  was  narrated  by  the 
peddler,  and  when  it  was  all  over  Mr.  Kirkland 
swabbed  his  eyes  and  took  his  daughter  in  his 
arms. 


THE    PEDDLER 267 

' '  Bed  for  yours,  my  chicken,"  said  he.  ' ' Don, 
see  that  a  berth  is  ready  for  Mr.  Clamp." 

"John  Henry,"  corrected  William.  ' 'What's 
the  rest  of  it,  old  top?" 

"Oh,  never  mind  the  rest,"  said  the  peddler, 
and  yawned. 

"Where  are  you  off  to,  William?"  James 
asked. 

"I'm  off  to  look  at  my  murdered  double, 
then  I'll  freshen  up  a  bit  and  run  over  to  break 
the  joyful  news  to  the  marquise  and  Gwen." 

"But  it's  only  six  o'clock.  They'll  all  be 
asleep." 

"Then  they  can  jolly  well  wake  up,"  said 
William.  "It  isn't  every  day  that  a  girl  gets 
officially  engaged,  and  a  distinguished  guest 
learns  that  she  is  still  in  possession  of  a  sup 
posedly  stolen  diamond  worth  the  ransom  of  a 
munitions  worker." 


Chapter  XX 

MR.  KIRKLAND  pushed  himself  back  from 
the  table  and  lighted  a  cigar. 

"Look  here,  Clamp!"  said  he.  "Aside  from 
being  a  darned  efficient  peddler  and  jack-of -all- 
trades,  what  the  deuce  else  are  you,  anyhow? 
You  look  like  a  thoroughbred  and  talk  like  a 
highbrow." 

"In  the  arts  of  peace,  sir,"  replied  the  peddler, 
"I  am  general  superintendent  of  the  Dorsey 
Iron  Works  and  Shipyards  in  South  Brooklyn, 
over  against  the  island  of  Manhattan.  My 
father,  Silas  P.  Dorsey,  is  the  proprietor.  Yon 
sky-blue  joy-wagon  is  an  ex-army  truck  that  I 
bought  at  a  bargain  when  sent  to  the  yard, 
where  I  caused  to  be  erected  on  its  chassis  a 
fair  frame  house,  my  store  and  happy  rolling 
home." 

"Then  how  the  deuce  did  you  get  mixed  up 
in  this  thing?" 

"Owing  to  the  war,  sir.  As  soon  as  we  got 
into  it  I  was  given  the  commission  of  lieutenant 
in  the  United  States  navy  and  sent  to  France, 
where  I  was  detached  for  service  in  the  O.  N.  I. 
In  Paris  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  Baron  Isidor 


THE    PEDDLER 269 

de  Rosenthal,  an  old  friend  and  client  of  my 
father's,  who  had  built  several  ships  to  his  order. 
Previous  to  the  war  I  had  done  some  work  for 
the  United  States  Federal  Secret  Service  in  the 
matter  of  suppressing  certain  efforts  to  burn 
up  the  waterfront  in  and  about  the  port  of 
New  York,  and,  my  methods  being  known  to  the 
baron,  he  asked  me  as  a  particular  and  I  may 
add  highly  paid  favor  to  himself  that  I  under 
take  this  little  job,  which  I  have  managed  so 
brilliantly  to  bungle." 

"Bungle  nothing!"  snorted  Mr.  Kirkland. 

"You  are  very  kind,  sir,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  I've  made  a  shocking  mess  of  it.  The 
three  principal  criminals  are  still  very  much 
hand  and  foot  loose  and  not  subject  to  arrest 
and  indictment,  while  I  am  convinced  that  the 
two  understrappers  we  have  captured  could  not 
be  made  to  turn  state's  evidence  if  given  the 
thirty-third  degree.  The  whole  affair,  sir, 
would  be  a  matter  of  regret  and  mortification 
to  me  were  it  not  for  a  certain  bonus  for  which  I 
propose  to  file  a  claim  which,  if  approved, 
will  make  this  trifling  loot  and  the  Sultana 
itself  look  like  a  binful  of  junk.  Of  course 
the  rape  of  the  Sultana  was  never  in  any  ques 
tion,  but  even  had  it  been  I  should  have  felt 
the  same.  You  may  remember,  sir,  the  words 


270 THE    PEDDLER 

of  Solomon,  who  must  have  been  an  authority, 
as  he  had  so  many  of  them. 

"Rubies,  I  believe—" 

"No,  sir;  Sultanas." 

Mr.  Kirkland  leaned  back  in  his  chair, 
brought  the  tips  of  his  fingers  together,  and 
assumed  a  judicial  expression.  Once  or  twice 
he  glanced  at  the  crimsoning  Diana,  who  was 
evidently  at  a  loss  as  to  how  she  could  take  the 
presumptuous  tentative  of  the  peddler.  The 
Kirkland  brothers,  nervously  scenting  a  roman 
tic  situation,  faded  away  to  the  outer  regions 
like  dogs  at  the  sight  of  a  scrubbing-brush  and 
a  cake  of  soap  in  the  hands  of  their  keeper. 

Mr.  Kirkland  looked  again  at  the  peddler. 
He  squared  his  shoulders,  drew  down  his  vest, 
and  assumed  generally  an  air  of  magisterial 
dignity. 

"If  you  will  pardon  me  for  saying  so,"  said 
he,  "your  preamble,  if  such,  is,  as  usual,  difficult 
for  the  mind  of  a  practical  man  to  follow. 
In  other  words,  what  the  deuce  are  you  driving 
at?" 

The  peddler  rose  and  bowed. 

"Sir,"  said  he,  "I  have  the  honor  to  ask  in 
marriage  the  hand  of  your  daughter  Diana." 

Whether  the  vasomotor  disturbance  of  Di 
ana's  face  was  due  to  resentment  or  maiden 


THE    PEDDLER  271 

modesty  she  couldn't  herself  have  told;  in  fact, 
her  state  of  mind  at  that  moment  was  similar 
to  what  one  might  think  should  be  the  mental 
equilibrium  of  an  aviator  caught  in  a  sudden 
and  unexpected  cyclonic  squall,  whirled  and 
spun  about,  dropping  in  vortices,  side-slipping 
and  head-spinning,  knowing  that  the  high  air 
was  a  most  unstable  medium  at  that  moment, 
yet  not  seeing  just  how  he  was  going  to  get 
his  feet  on  solid  earth. 

Mr.  Kirkland,  on  the  contrary,  was  put  com 
pletely  at  his  ease.  Heretofore  the  similes 
and  philosophic  metaphors  of  the  peddler  had 
never  failed  to  bewilder  his  cerebral  functions 
and  to  make  him  feel  as  though  his  brain  were 
being  subjected  to  the  application  of  an  egg- 
beater.  But  now  there  was  something  tangible 
to  which  he  might  lay  hold. 

"This,  sir,"  said  he,  "is  the  first  time  in  our 
brief  acquaintance  that  I  have  known  you 
to  make  yourself  quite  clear.  You  have  put 
this  family  under  a  very  deep  and  lasting  obli 
gation,  first  in  saving  the  lives  of  two  of  my 
children,  and  now  in  clearing  our  name  from 
the  insinuations  of  malicious  tongues.  As  a 
young  man  of  marked  intelligence  and  ability 
I  am  bound  to  admit  your  merits,  while  as  to 
your  habits,  your  own  appearance  is  the  best 


272  THE    PEDDLER 

guaranty  of  them.  Ahem!  You  say  your 
father  owns  this  shipyard?" 

"He  does,  sir,  with  no  incumbrances.  It 
was  already  a  big  concern  before  the  war,  and 
its  operations  have  now  been  tripled." 

"In  that  case,"  said  Mr.  Kirkland,  benig- 
nantly ,  "  I  see  no  reason  for  withholding  my  con 
sent  to  your  request,  provided,  of  course,  that 
my  daughter  has  no  doubt  of  her  own  mind 
in  the  matter.  Has  she?" 

"I  do  not  know,  sir.  I  have  not  yet  asked 
her." 

Diana  felt  and  rather  looked  as  if  about  to 
suffocate.  The  rose  peonies  blooming  at  the 
side  of  the  veranda  could  not  have  rivaled 
the  depth  and  richness  of  her  tint.  Mr.  Kirk- 
land's  eyes  twinkled  more  than  ever. 

"In  that  case,  sir,"  said  he,  "I  shall  retire 
and  you  can  ask  her." 

He  rose  with  dignity,  exchanged  bows  with 
the  peddler,  and  withdrew,  thoughtfully  letting 
fall  the  curtains  behind  him. 

The  peddler  turned  to  Diana,  who  for  the 
first  time  saw  the  whole  of  his  strong  and  tender 
nature  glowing  from  a  pair  of  eyes  from  which 
the  smoke  screen  had  been  whipped  away. 

"Will  you  marry  me,  darling  girl?"  he 
asked. 


THE    PEDDLER  273 

"Will  I?"  cried  Diana,  rapturously.  "Oh, 
my — my — peddler ! ' ' 

And  she  flung  herself  ecstatically  into  his 
efficient  arms. 

Under  the  flaming  foliage  of  the  first  autumnal 
frost  a  large  and  freshly  painted  sky-blue  bus 
went  rolling  down  the  winding  road. 

It  was  no  stranger  in  the  region,  but  those 
accustomed  to  the  astonishing  concussions 
which  its  passage  had  habitually  struck  the 
surrounding  landscape  now  found  something 
lacking  in  its  stately  progress. 

For  there  was  no  noise,  whether  of  rapid 
fire  from  its  stern  or  clatter  of  ill-adjusted 
cogs  or  thump  of  heavy  pistons  or  the  slam- 
banging  of  various  paraphernalia  exposed  for 
sale  upon  its  vast  expanse  of  side.  No  longer 
did  plowshares  clash  on  anchors  or  heavy 
tackles  vie  with  churns  and  dishpans  in  beating 
the  long  roll  as  it  rocked  along.  The  small 
windows  were  neatly  curtained  and  from  long 
window-boxes  bloomed  geraniums  and  training 
vines.  It  proceeded  on  its  stately  way  with  less 
announcement  than  a  flivver  of  antebellum 
vintage. 

But  if  these  were  lacking,  then  were  they 
replaced  by  certain  other  novel  accessories  for- 


274  THE    PEDDLER 

eign  to  its  type.  Gay  streamers  and  garlands 
fluttered  from  the  stanchions  of  its  hurricane- 
deck  and  there  was  pendent  a  varied  assortment 
of  ladies'  footwear  which  was  not  for  sale. 
Enough  rice  could  have  been  swept  up,  alow 
and  aloft,  to  tide  a  Chinese  family  through  a 
period  of  famine. 

Inside  were  all  such  conveniences  as  could 
be  reasonably  required  by  the  newly  wed, 
each  feature  of  which  was  of  an  aching  newness. 
This  snug  cabin,  though  presenting  certain 
aspects  of  the  camp,  was  spotless  as  that  of  a 
Dutch  canal-boat,  and  possessed  in  concen 
trated  volume  all  the  comforts  of  a  home.  It 
seemed  a  pity  in  fact  that  its  service  was  des 
tined  to  be  so  short  and  its  travels  for  the 
immediate  present  limited  to  the  narrow  con 
fines  of  three  states. 

On  the  driver's  seat  were  two  very  happy 
individuals  and  a  small  dog  which  would  have 
been  also  elate  but  for  the  embarrassing  adorn 
ment  of  a  large  white-satin  bow,  long  enough 
to  tickle,  too  short  to  tug  loose  even  with  a 
muzzle  drawn  out  by  damning  dachshund 
corpuscles.  Observing  his  annoyance  the  mas 
ter  pulled  out  the  bow,  loosed  the  knot,  slipped 
off  the  ribbon,  took  his  small  companion  by 
the  after  end,  and  lowered  him  gently  overside, 


THE    PEDDLER 275 

where  after  a  bark  of  acknowledgment  he  spun 
along  abreast  like  a  mechanical  toy,  trotting 
in  front,  galloping  behind. 

The  peddler  wore  his  classic  costume  of 
Breton  sailor's  btret  and  spotless  blue-denim 
working-suit,  there  being  always  work  in  sight 
for  the  caravaner,  particularly  when  on  his 
wedding  tour. 

The  blushing  bride  was  consistently  and 
charmingly  arrayed  in  a  white-serge  sailor 
suit,  there  being  much  about  the  van,  its 
handling  and  equipment,  to  suggest  a  cruising 
yacht.  The  most  captious  critic,  chronic  hypo 
chondriac,  or  bitter  misogynist  who  had  seen 
her  sitting  there,  one  hand  resting  on  the  steer 
ing-wheel,  the  other  in  a  perfectly  safe  resting- 
place,  red  lips  slightly  parted,  violet  eyes  misty 
and  deep,  gazing  dreamily  at  the  endless  open 
road,  would  have  been  willing  to  admit  that 
no  brave  captain  ever  embarked  from  any  port 
for  unknown  seas  with  a  truer  and  fairer  mate. 

The  big  van  rolled  round  the  first  turning, 
when  the  sound  of  song  and  laughter  died  away. 
The  strains  of  music  grew  faint  and  sweet 
with  distance,  and  so  they  trundled  out  of  this 
and  into  another  and  long  and  sweeter  story. 

THE   END 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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341   5 


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